


Reputation

by shirbert1989



Series: Shirbert through albums [2]
Category: Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Literally so much angst, Mutual Pining, Shirbert, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:15:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 52,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23538988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shirbert1989/pseuds/shirbert1989
Summary: Anne Shirley Cuthbert made a stupid mistake at a college party while completely sober with a random. attractive guy. She also happened to be a TA with the same dude and finds herself competing with him as teacher’s pet after stupidly smashing his face with a book. Who knew these stupid mistakes could cause Anne Shirley her reputation at Queens College?
Relationships: Gilbert Blythe & Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley
Series: Shirbert through albums [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1664980
Comments: 93
Kudos: 505





	1. The role you made me play, of the fool, no I don’t like you

If one happened to be at one of the football players’s party, they would see a lot of cliches going on. Drunk college students dancing up on everyone, a group of guys who certainly cannot hold their liquor playing beer pong in the corner, and couples (and some not so couples) scattered in the hallway.

Now if one was to walk upstairs and to the third bedroom on the left, they would see a red haired girl hastily putting her clothes back on at the edge of the bed as a dark, curly haired man smirked at her from behind.

“I seriously cant get your name?” He teased.

Anne rolled her eyes as she clasped her bra back on. “Nope.”

“Well do you know mine at least?” 

“No and I’d like to keep it that way-“

“Gilbert Blythe.”

Anne groaned and looked back at him in disbelief. “Seriously?”

He shrugged innocently and folded his arms over his chest. “Now it’s only fair if you tell me yours.”

Anne got up from the bed and pulled her skirt on. She walked over the dresser mirror and fixed her outfit and hair all the while ignoring the man on the bed. In the corner of her eye she saw a reflection of him staring intently at her as she fixed herself and fought the urge to snap at him. She wasn’t going to lie to herself, he was very attractive but looked even more alluring as he sat shirtless under the bed covers.

“We’re never going to see each other again so I don’t think there’s any point in learning my name,” Anne said pointedly as she ran a hand through her hair.

“Well if we’re never going to see each other again then there is no harm in knowing who you are. It’ll be like lost information that i’ll never have to worry about remembering,” he retorted. 

“Goodbye,” Anne said as she put her hand on the door knob to walk out but stopped as she heard a protest from the guy behind her. “Yes?” She looked back at him impatiently.

He quirked an eyebrow at her. “Wanna do it again?”

“You’re disgusting.”

“You’re the one who made the move on me first.”

Anne opened her mouth to argue but closed it as she realized he was right. With a stubborn huff, Anne opened the door but kept his eye.

“My name’s Anne,” she said and walked out the door before she could hear what he said. It wasn’t until she closed the door behind her and was hit with the reality that she had stupidly hooked up with a hot guy at a college party. She couldn’t help but think she was probably the most cliche girl ever at that moment, cursing herself as she walked down the hall to the stairway in an effort to find her friends.

She found Cole talking to a guy who kept darting his eyes to his lips with Cole acting oblivious to it, and saw Ruby dancing with a guy she recognized as one of the guys on the football team. She realized her only hope at the moment was to find Diana but didn’t get her hopes up. At these parties Diana was always doing something or someone and probably wouldn’t appear for a good 10 more minutes or so. She was left alone in the middle of drunk college kids, and even considered retreating back in the room with the guy. But she stubbornly refused to do so and simply walked into the kitchen. She was the designated driver and couldn’t drink but it didn’t mean she couldn’t scavenge the kitchen for food.

So Anne retreated into the corner of the kitchen away from the drinking adults and ate away at the potato chip bag. Her eyes scoured the room to see if there was absolutely anyone she knew at all. She saw Jane Andrews, Tillie Boulter, and Josie Pye talking together in the dining room and wondered if she should join them. However she knew Josie hated her for a reason she was oblivious to and decided it was better not to. So Anne just stayed in the corner until one of her friends would find her and beg her to take them home.

She enjoyed being by herself, really. She could think to herself and do whatever she liked- which was nothing. She’s been wanting some alone time for a while and finally got it. However it didn’t last long as she heard someone clear their throat in front of her and frowned as she looked up and saw it was that Gilbert guy with a smug look on his face. His hair was still ruffled from earlier and she groaned as she remembered she was the reason for it.

“If you’re so bored we can retreat back into my room,” he offered.

Anne scowled at him. “Can you just leave me alone?”

He did the opposite of that, instead leaning against the counter next to her and grabbing the chip bag from her to take a handful.

“You’re staying sober too?” He asked.

Anne sighed and nodded. “Yeah.”

“So you had sex with me when you were completely sober?” He asked, almost confused.

Anne shrugged, “I needed something to fill my time.” Gilbert let out a howl of laughter and Anne glared at him. “What? I thought you were attractive and just took advantage of the situation. No harm no foul.” Anne snatched the chips from him and dug in.

“No no it’s not that,” he shook his head with a smile still plastered on his face. “It’s just that usually here, girls get drunk as fuck and make out with the first guy they see and instantly regret it, but you don’t.”

“I mean, who’s not to say I haven’t done that? And it wasn’t horrible,” Anne muttered. “I’d only regret it if you turned out to be ugly in the light.”

Gilbert chuckled again. “I guess it sucks for you that I’m not.”

Anne rolled her eyes as she popped another chip in her mouth. Her eyebrows wrinkled as she was brought back to reality and leaned off the counter to look at him.

“Why are you talking to me?” She asked.

Gilbert opened his mouth but no words came out. Anne guessed he didn’t know the answer either and rolled her eyes.

“I don’t know. You seemed lonely and I’m bored too, so,” he shrugged.

“Isn’t this your party? How can you be bored at a party you’re throwing?”

“I didn’t throw it, my teammates did. I just wanted to watch something on Netflix but Moody dragged me down here. And then I caught some hot chick’s eye and she pushed me up against a wall....and I think you know what happened next, unless you want me to say it anyways?” He wiggled his eyebrows knowingly.

Anne scowled at him again. “I’m gonna go.”

“Wait.”

Anne groaned and turned back to him. “What?”

“Can you give me the chips?”

“Fuck off.”

And again, before she could hear what he said, she retreated into the crowd with nothing but her chips and impending headache keeping her sane.

~•~•~

If one happened to roam the campus of Queens College at eight a.m. they would see a small redhead breaking Usain Bolt’s record. 

That small redhead would never dare be caught running but had no other choice as she had woken up 20 minutes later than she needed to. She spent all of last night trying to get her drunk friends back home safe and sound but found it difficult as one wouldn’t stop crying, one wouldn’t stop making out with a guy she just met, and the last one almost got hit by a car.

That same small redhead also happened to be late for her first job as a TA in her old professor’s class. 

The redhead muttered “sorry” and “excuse me” more times than she believed she had ever in her 21 years of life. She said a string of curses as she glanced at her watch and time ticked by, now making her 11 minutes late for her first job.

After what felt like forever, the redhead finally ran up the steps to the building where Mrs. Stacy’s classroom was. She swung the door open and gave a small smile to the campus officer before hurriedly walking to the classroom. When she reached there, she quickly smoothed the flyaways on her face and slowed her breathing. If she was going to be late she certainly wasn’t going to look like a mess doing so.

With a sigh, she opened the classroom door, wincing as the sound was louder than she has anticipated, and walked in. 

Unfamiliar faces turned to glance at her as she walked shyly down the steps over to Mrs. Stacy, who had a rather unamused expression on her face. She caught glimpse of a boy sitting near her desk, and in contrast to Mrs. Stacy he had an amused grin. Her face fell as she recognized him, even in the godawful fluorescent light, and she fought to scowl at him.

“Nice of you to join us,” Mrs. Stacy glanced at her watch, “12 minutes late.”

She sent her an apologetic expression and mouthed a “sorry” as she saw her old professor was in the middle of reading the assigned book. Mrs. Stacy simply sighed and gestured over to the table where Gilbert was sitting.

“Everyone this is Anne Shirley-Cuthbert,” Mrs. Stacy introduced her to the class. Anne gave a small wave as she sat in her chair, all the while avoiding Gilbert’s eye, and pulled her book out and opened to the page that was written on the board. “She’s your other TA so please, if you have any questions, ask either her or Gilbert if I am not available.”

Mrs. Stacy resumed with her lecture and sent a reassuring smile over to Anne. Anne sighed in relief, but the relief went away when she felt a pair of eyes on her.

She turned around and saw Gilbert staring at her, a small smile on his face. Anne fought the urge to flip the bird on him and won, instead staring blankly at him before turning back to Mrs. Stacy.

“What are the odds?” She felt him whisper into her ear. She cursed herself as she felt goosebumps arise from the feel of his breath on her skin.

“Leave me alone,” Anne whispered through gritted teeth.

“I’m just saying,” he chuckled. “Don’t you think it’s funny?”

Anne shot him a glare and furrowed her eyebrows. “What is?” She felt her grip on her book get tighter with every smug smile from the guy.

Gilbert scoffed. “Come on. The random hookup at a college party just happened to be between the two TA’s of the same teacher.”

“I’ll forget about it if you do,” Anne suggested, moving her eyes back to the paragraphs. However, she felt it hard to focus or retain any words as he continued to poke her. She grasped the book tighter in her hands and was scared it would bend despite the hardcover.

“Or, we could continue the streak,” he suggested with a tug of her hair. “Carrots.”

Anne felt her face burn up. Not in embarrassment, but in anger. How dare he suggest they continue sleeping together? Did one attempt at getting lose while sober destroy her label? Make her seem “easy”? It was a pleasurable act and Anne was not ashamed to do it, feeling it was normal for people to do. So why on Earth would he try to take advantage of her? And to top it off, he had to insult her hair, the bane of her existence. The previous night, he had whispered into her about how beautiful her hair was and now he was insulting it like it was nothing. Anne shouldn’t have cared, she knows it was stupid and she shouldn’t have cared what this man thought, but she couldn’t contain the anger inside of her. 

So without thinking, she swung the book straight across his face.


	2. So why’d you have to rain on my parade?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii I know this is annoying and I’m so sorry. But I deleted the other chapters and I’m starting fresh from here. Hopefully I upload the revised chapters by this weekend because I feel bad for making you guys wait.

The board hitting his jaw created a loud “smack” that struck the attention of the entire class. They turned towards the sound to find Anne stuck in position with her book still being held where it hit Gilbert’s face. Gilbert, however, was cradling his jaw with a shocked yet amused look on his face. He slowly turned back around to face Anne and her face fell as she realized what she had done, while the corners of his lips turned up.

“So is that a no?” He managed to tease.

Anne sat in horror. She quickly glanced at Ms. Stacy who had an infuriated look on her face while Gilbert continued rubbing his jaw.

“Anne what is this?” Ms. Stacy asked through gritted teeth.

“I’m so, so sorry,” Anne said apologetically. “I-I didn’t mean-“

“It was my fault,” Gilbert quickly chimed. “I provoked her, I take full responsibility.”

“How noble, Gilbert. Really, how noble,” Ms. Stacy snarled. “But if I’m correct Anne was the one who hit you?”

Anne was speechless. She was looking at Ms. Stacy with no words on her tongues or even any idea of what to say, which is, in fact, a very rare occurrence for the redhead.

Ms. Stacy closed her eyes and exhaled. “Anne, take Gilbert to the medical clinic.”

“But I’m fine-“

“Now,” she said sharply. “You can stay there the remainder of the time, but I would like to talk to you before class tomorrow. Now go.”

Ms. Stacy wasn’t usually this cruel. In fact, she was probably one of the most cheerful and laid back professors at Queens. But the fact that her star student Anne had managed to disrupt the class twice on the first day of the semester did not sit right with her.

Sensing the disappointment in her, Anne quickly put her belongings in her bag and got up from the table, walking speedily out the door before anyone could say another word. A moment later Gilbert walked out of the door, and had a surprisingly sympathetic look on his face.

Anne didn’t glance back at him as they walked out of the building.

“I’m sorry,” Gilbert said from behind.

Anne ignored him and continued walking.

“Hey,” Gilbert pleaded, “I’m sorry about taunting you back there. And getting you in trouble with Ms. Stacy. I was trying to provoke you which, now that I think about it, is a douche-y thing to do-“

“Where’s the clinic?” She stopped in her tracks and allowed Gilbert to catch up with her, sparing him a death glare.

He exhaled and pointed towards the football stadium, “Near there. I can take us- Hey.”

Anne was already fast walking away from him. He groaned in frustration and jogged up to walk with her side by side. She stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest and pointed her chin up.

“In my defense, how was I supposed to know pulling your braid would make you hit me?” He tried to joke and ease the tension.

She scoffed, “And what’s your excuse for that ridiculous nickname?”

He furrowed his eyebrows, “Carrots? Well I don’t know. It’s just the first thing I thought of when I saw your hair. You know what a carrot is, right? Like the vegetable?

Anne, who was nearly a head shorter than him, stopped in her tracks and turned to him to glare at his face.

“I know what a carrot is,” Anne snapped. “What, you think that’s some cute nickname for a redhead? You think it’s fine to tease the girl with red hair simply because it amuses you? No, you’re wrong. It’s insulting and rude to make fun of a girl’s appearance. You’re selfish and annoying and-and disgusting! You think just because we already slept together that I’ll do it again? You think I’m that easy? You are pathetic and deserved more than just a book hitting your face.”

Gilbert blinked. “Well personally, I like carrots,” he mumbled.

“Unbelievable!” Anne threw her arms up in the air and scoffed. “Never call me carrots again. In fact, why don’t you just never talk to me again?”

“Hey, it’s not my fault you decided to whack me in the head,” he said defensively.

“Now you’re blaming me for your immaturity?”

“What immaturity?! I thought it was a cute name for a cute girl!”

Anne furrowed her eyes at him, “You don’t remember my name, do you? That’s why you called me ‘Carrots’?”

Gilbert stammered for a few moments before sighing in defeat.

“I didn’t remember if it was Annie or Anna to be honest. I only remembered your last name when I heard Ms. Stacy say it, but it sounded like ‘surely cutting board’ and I don’t think that’s right.”

“It’s Anne Shirley-Cuthbert,” she stated.

He blushed in embarrassment. _At least he had the decency to look shameful_ , Anne thought.

“That’s way too long, I’ll just call you Shirley,” he said with an amused grin.

Anne grimaced at him before finally sighing, relieving the tension in her shoulders. “Look, we slept together once. And for some reason, the universe hates us and decided to throw us in each other’s paths. That doesn’t mean this is another opportunity for you to get me in my pants again. Okay?”

“More like a skirt,” he shrugged.

She whacked him in the arm.

“Ow! What was that for?” He exclaimed, rubbing his arm.

“Stop being so disgusting! I swear, all men care about is sex!”

“Hey, I don’t care that much about sex. I’m more of the cuddling type.”

“You’re annoying.”

“Hey, I can prove it to you tonight if you want,” he smirked and winked.

“Shut up! Shut up! I am never going to sleep with you again so help me God. So throw your little fantasy out of your brain and leave me alone.”

Anne didn’t realize she was practically screaming until she finished. Gilbert was simply dumbstruck and his mouth was hanging slightly. Anne was panting for breath and caught his eye searching her face, fuming as a small smile appeared on his face.

“You’re so easy to annoy. So easy,” he chuckled.

Gilbert didn’t mean to, but seeing her yell at him was like watching an angry kitten. It was such a funny experience to him he could barely contain his laughter.

She frowned. “What?”

“I’m so-“ he didn’t finish as he let out another laugh, this time clearing his throat to cover it up. He calmed himself and turned back to her, but the minute he caught her face, he began laughing again.

Anne felt her heart break at that. She felt her breath hitch and impending tears in her eyes as she saw his reaction at her. He was too busy laughing to see her distraught face and she took advantage of that to wipe her eyes to keep the tears from falling.

“You can go to the clinic yourself, can’t you?” Anne asked and looked down at the ground, cursing herself as a croak in her voice exited her.

The change in tone halted Gilbert’s hysterics and he looked back down at her. His smile faltered when he saw her eyes watering and her refusal to look at him.

“Hey I didn’t mean-“

“You can go to the clinic yourself right?” Anne asked pointedly again.

Gilbert didn’t answer, and Anne just shook her head at him.

“You’re disgusting. And rude. And I never want to see your face again. I’m gonna call the office and ask if I can transfer to another class. You can go to the clinic yourself,” she said and turned on her heel away from him.

“What? Hey, Shirley!”

She didn’t answer or turn back, walking quickly in the direction of her apartment and as far away from him as possible. She held back silent sobs until she reached a secluded area covered with trees.

Anne knew she wasn’t the prettiest. She used to look worse in her adolescence and could only thank puberty for giving her the chance to grow prettier. But she hadn’t been laughed at for her looks since middle school, let alone by someone who couldn’t help but tell her how hot she looked the previous night. Now this Gilbert Blythe fellow had managed to ruin her day, and she groaned as she realized it was barely half past eight o clock in the morning.

The tears were about to fall until she heard footsteps behind her and she quickly wiped them away, muttering curses under her breath as she turned around and anticipated Gilbert’s rude comments again.

However, when she turned around she was met face to face with a certain blonde haired girl who had a smug look on her face. She glanced at Anne and gave a fake smile as she headed over to her.

“Hey Anne,” she said in her British accent, but anyone who paid attention would’ve heard how fake it was.

Anne fought a scowl, “Hi Winifred.”

She frowned and tilted her head, “Is everything alright?”

Anne nodded, “Yeah, yeah I’m just tired.”

“Already? It’s only the first day of the semester.”

She chuckled humorlessly, “Uh you know college, one day is stressful enough.”

Winifred hummed in agreement, “True, true. But I would’ve assumed you already have a great stress reliever. Gilbert Blythe?”

Anne’s face fell at the mention of his name. “I- what does he have to do with it?”

“Oh come on. Nearly everyone saw you guys talking together at the party last night,” she remarked bitterly.

“Well I-I mean he tried to take my chips.”

“Cut the crap, Anne,” Winifred snapped. “How did you sleep with him? Gilbert barely sleeps with anyone.”

“Is this supposed to be common knowledge?”

“My point is, do you know how,” Winifred trailed off, eyeing Anne up and down before grimacing, “special you have to be for him to be interested in you? What do you have that no other girl on campus does? Do you posses some slutty magic that makes you able to seduce guys who are way out of your league?”

“Hey-“

“And I heard your little argument near the buildings. Talking about how ‘easy’ you are. I guess what they said at that little orphanage was true, you’re such a whore.” Anne felt her heart beating rapidly against her chest. “Now listen to me, back off from Gilbert or I tell every guy on campus what I heard. I will destroy your reputation here and make you wish you were back at that orphanage.”

By the time she was finished, Anne was backed up against a tree with Winifred staring down at her like she was prey.

“Don’t mess with me,” she hissed menacingly before turning around, her blonde ponytail smacking her in the face, and walking away.

Anne practically ran out from the area when Winifred was out of sight. Her chest was heaving and the sobs that threatened to pour when Winifred brought up the orphanages finally fell. She wrapped her arms around her as a sort of security blanket as Winifred’s words ran through her head.

Anne laid in her bed until it was time for her afternoon class. She made a mental note to call the Student Center to transfer out of Ms. Stacy’s later. She couldn’t face Gilbert after he laughed at her face. And she certainly didn’t want to face Winifred’s wrath.

She barely understood why Winifred would threaten her like that. Was she a jealous ex? Do her and Gilbert have something going on and Anne messed it up? Those were the only two possibilities she could come up with, but yet they were still no excuse for the British girl to threaten her.

 _Today’s been a terrible, awful, stinking day. Please let tomorrow be better_ , Anne secretly prayed to whoever was above and listening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was planning on introducing Winifred later in the original story but the more I thought about it the more I thought it’d be fine here :)
> 
> Also please let me know what you think! Again, I’m so sorry for the abrupt editing but I hope you guys enjoy it.


	3. Ocean blue eyes looking in mine

Apparently, no one was listening. And Anne was made clear of that when she arrived at Ms. Stacy’s 25 minutes early to avoid Gilbert only to find him already waiting at the door.

Her eyes widened in shock and she tried to walk away before she heard him call her name- or her surname.

“Shirley,” he said cautiously, like he was scared she was going to hit him again.

She groaned internally and turned around to give him an acknowledging and expressionless nod.

He frowned, “Are you okay?”

She shrugged and leaned against the wall. Her gaze was kept on her small feet lazily swinging around. She was content with ignoring him for the rest of the semester if she had to. After her call with the Student Center and her frustrated sobs into her pillow when they told her there’s not enough space, she intended on avoiding him as much as she could these next few months. Winifred certainly couldn’t have a problem with that.

Apparently that wasn’t in Gilbert’s itinerary, because her movements stopped when she saw his feet in front of hers. She looked up and stumbled back when she saw how close his face was.

“Jesus,” she exclaimed.

Gilbert smirked, “No it’s Gilbert.”

Anne rolled her eyes at him, “What do you want?”

He bit his bottom lip nervously, eyeing Anne’s face. “I- I don’t know what I did yesterday to make you mad-“

“It’s fine, whatever, it doesn’t matter,” she muttered.

A glance up at him to see if he bought it turned out to be a mistake when she saw the frown on his face.

“Of course it matters. I never meant to make you upset,” he protested.

“Why are you being so stubborn? I thought people liked it when they got the easy way out.”

“Well I don’t because I don’t like knowing that I made someone sad.”

They stared down at each other for a moment. His eyebrows shot up, as if daring her to challenge him again.

“Look, I just want to know what I did wrong so I can properly apologize and not make an enemy out of you,” he exhales tiredly at the end.

“What? You want to be friends?” Anne scoffed.

Gilbert shrugged, “Why not?”

He gave a small smile but it disappeared when he saw Anne’s bitter expression was still prominent. Finally, after what felt like hours of scrutinized glaring from her and a small voice telling him her ocean blue eyes were one of the most beautiful he’d ever seen, she grimaced but reluctantly sighed.

“It’s nothing, really. So please, forget about it.”

Gilbert tilted his head back and rubbed his eyebrows, “Look Shirley, I’m trying to be a good guy here. I’m sorry for causing you hurt but I don’t think my apology will mean anything to you if I don’t know what I’m apologizing for.”

Anne glared at him and pushed him away, staring at the wall across from her as she stuck her chin up and refused to look at him. 

“You’re an asshole,” she remarked bitterly.

“Aww, you’re gonna make me blush”

“How do you go from being a possibly decent guy to an absolute jerk in the span of one minute?”

“It’s the Shirley effect.”

“Just leave me alone, please,” she pleaded desperately, Winifred’s words from yesterday racking through her brain. “It’ll do us both some good if we just stopped talking to each other. Please.”

Her ocean blue eyes glanced up at him before looking up briefly to catch his hazel ones. That one second of eye contact between them, where hazel met ocean blue, was enough to make Gilbert momentarily lose his breath. 

Each time her eyes fell from his he couldn’t help but want to desperately tell her to look at him again. There had been barely enough eye contact between the two that made it hard for Gilbert to note her eye color. He knew it was ocean blue, but was it a dark blue? Or light like when you’re looking at the ocean horizon from the beach? It was taunting him. But not as much as the question in his mind wondering what she meant just now.

“What do you mean it’ll be the best for both of us?” He asked.

Anne stiffened momentarily but slouched a bit, trying to keep cool. “You know. Like maybe if we stopped interacting I would stop getting in trouble and you wouldn’t get hurt anymore.”

Her tone was teasing but there was an underlying sense of truth in there. What trouble was she talking about? Trouble with someone in particular?

“What? You’re going to get in trouble for talking to me? I can guarantee you that’s absurd. Well, expect for yesterday. But  technically , we didn’t even get in trouble, we got a warning. There’s a difference,” Gilbert chuckled, but his eyebrows furrowed when he noticed she looked rather panicky. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Anne cursed Gilbert for being smarter than he looked. He was just like her, psycho analyzing every word someone says to the point that it’s annoying.

“I’m fine,” she croaked out but quickly covered with a cough.

He arched an eyebrow at her, “Do you wanna tell me what’s going on?”

“No.”

“Well-“

“Thank God you two came,” Ms. Stacy walked into the building and seemed relieved to see the two, not even noting their close distance to each other. “I thought neither of you would show up and I’d have to yell at you again in class and I am just not in the mood to do that.”

Ms. Stacy unlocked the door and walked inside, leaving the two TA’s in the hallway. Anne quickly pushed him out of her way and followed her. Gilbert stuffed his hands in his pockets and followed Anne, close enough that she could feel his chest pressed against her back side and she turned to glare at him. He didn’t seem to notice how close he was, but when he did he gave a cocky grin and she grimaced.

Ms. Stacy lectured the two, Anne in particular, on behaving in her classroom. She said she loved both of them dearly but the last thing she needed was distractions while she tried to teach. Anne curtly apologized and the loving Ms. Stacy was back by time students began sitting down. To ensure nothing else happened between the two, Ms. Stacy got two separate tables on each side of her desk for them both to sit in.

“Can I talk to you after?” Gilbert asked as Anne began waking to her table.

Anne glanced up at him, sighing and nodded. The truth would come out anyway, might as well tell him so he’ll know why she’s being so adamant about this. 

He gave a small smile and walked over to his table. The hour went by roughly, as she fought to resist the temptation to look at Gilbert whom she was almost a hundred percent sure was staring at her. She kept her focus on either Ms. Stacy or the book and would occasionally check her phone. However, as she glanced from her book to the professor, her eyes briefly met Gilbert’s. She saw he was staring at her quite fondly, and she couldn’t help but glare at him. He stifled a laugh and shook his head and Anne gaped. He was so annoying she could barely believe she allowed him to see her naked.

When class ended, Gilbert approached her table only a mere five seconds after Ms. Stacy dismissed them. He was towering over her and looking at her with a curious face. She ignored his eye until she got up from the table. She also ignored Ms. Stacy’s knowing look and her small smirk and walked out of the classroom with Gilbert following behind.

“Don’t come out with me,” Anne turned and said pointedly just before they exited the building doors. “We can talk here.”

He glanced at her curiously, “Here? Right in front of the entrance?”

She took her bottom lip between her teeth before sighing, grabbing Gilbert’s arm, walking them to under the stairs.

“Did you drag me here to make out with me?” He teased. “Because honestly, all you had to was ask.”

Anne swatted him in the arm and he winced.

“Sorry,” he muttered, seeming genuinely apologetic. “It’s just, what you said before class is bothering me. You’re acting like hanging out with me is a death sentence.”

She exhaled and dropped her eyes to the ground, “It may as well be,” she muttered.

A glance up at him and his small pout confused Anne even more. One minute he could go from being an arrogant douche to adorable like a lost puppy. It didn’t help that his hazel eyes widened slightly when he pouted, proving her whole “sad golden retriever” idea.

“I’ve been rejected quite a few times, but I’ll have to admit, this one might be the worst way,” he feigned sadness.

A small laugh threatened to spill out of her. Maybe they were total opposites, but she felt a slight kindred-ship between them. Maybe they could’ve been friends, if a certain British blonde wasn’t set out on ruining Anne’s life for no reason.

“Look, if I tell you something you have to promise not to laugh, no matter how absurd it sounds,” she warned.

Gilbert fought a chuckle but it went away when he saw her determined face, “Oh you’re serious? Uh, yeah, yes, yes I promise.”

She breathed in and out and stared at him dead in the eyes. It was one thing seeing the hazel iris with a quick glance, but to be staring into them was out worldly. Anne deduced that she had never quite seen such beautiful eyes before. They were hazel with golden flecks and danced around her blue ones. 

People usually said her eyes were as blue as the sky, but she always thought they were more of an ocean. Like when you stare out into the horizon on the beach and the blue slowly fades lighter and lighter. You know there’s an end but that’s million of miles away and you’re left wondering just how far into the horizon you’re looking.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Anne braced herself.

“Okay so there’s a girl named Winnie Rose, right? So we don’t exactly have the best past but that’s not important right now. So basically yesterday after you hurt my feelings by laughing at my face and whatnot- and don’t worry about it, really, what you did is nothing compared to her- she cornered me and basically admitted she was eavesdropping on our conversation. And then she told me if I didn’t back away from you she would tell every guy on campus that I’m an ‘easy’ fuck and make my life hell on campus. And then I just started crying because of everything but anyways, yeah.”

The fact that she said it all in one or two breaths was impressive to both of them. But the pure shock and anger that drifted over Gilbert’s face surprised Anne.

She quickly cleared her throat, “So, yeah. If you don’t mind I think we should just stop-“

“Who’d you say did that?”

Anne blinked, “Um, Winnie Rose.”

“Her name is Winifred Rose, right? Blonde and British?”

She was taken slightly aback, “So you guys do know each other? Is she a jealous ex or something? Or did you cheat on her with me?” Her eyebrows furrowed at him at the last suggestion.

Gilbert gaped at her, “What? No! I don’t cheat on people, what kind of person do you think I am?”

“So she is an ex?”

His face fell and she felt like she hit a sore spot for him Anne was about to utter a small apology before Gilbert grabbed her wrist and quickly dragged her away from their spot.

“Hey! What are you doing?” She tried slapping him away but he was too strong.

His jaw was clenched and he looked ready to yell at someone. Anne was caught way off guard. She thought he would laugh at her or at least tease her, but the possibility that he could be angry flew over her mind.

He exited the building with his grip on her wrist and her trying to fight him off, causing a small commotion that caught the eye of surrounding people. Some guys would give Gilbert a quick greeting but he ignored them. 

“Am I being kidnapped?” She leaned in and asked. “Because I swear I have pepper spray in my bag and I  will  use it if I’m being kidnapped.”

Gilbert didn’t answer her. He seemed determined and full of anger and Anne would be lying if she said she wasn’t scared out of her mind. 

He dragged them towards the courtyard and walked up to a small group of girls laying under the trees. But when Anne saw who was under there, her eyes widened and she desperately tried to let go.

“I swear to god, Blythe, let me go right now,” she said through gritted teeth. 

He relented, stopping a couple yards from them and dragged them to a tree. He turned around and placed a finger over his lips.

“Don’t say anything,” he whispered.

She glared at him, “Who are you to tell me what I can or can’t do?”

“God’s sake Shirley, just trust me on this. Don’t say anything. Okay?” Anne opened her mouth to argue but he clasped a hand over her mouth. “What did I say?”

She licked his hand.

“Son of a-“ he glared at her as he wiped his hand on his jeans. “Just stay here, okay?”

Before she could say anything he walked away and over to Winifred. 

Anne peeked out from the tree to watch them. She couldn’t hear anything, but judging by Gilbert’s body language and Winifred’s discontented expression, things weren’t going well. Winifred looked ready to murder someone on the spot. Anne couldn’t see Gilbert’s face but could see his back muscles occasionally tense up through his tight navy blue shirt. Not that she was staring at his back. His back muscles just happened to fall into her line of vision.

After what only felt like seconds, she saw Gilbert turn on his heel, his jaw still clenched, and head over to Anne. She quickly ducked behind the tree when he came over. 

“Hey what-“

She was cut off when Gilbert pulled her away from the tree and into his arms.

“Please don’t hate me,” he muttered.

“You’re gonna have to be more spe-“

She was cut off when he dipped his head down and crashed their lips together angrily.

_ Oh? _

This kiss reminded her of their hook up only a few days ago and how she initiated it by practically pushing him against a wall and capturing his lips. His lips were soft but pressed angrily against hers. His arms wrapped securely around her small frame as his mouth grew hungrier for her.

But this time was also different since she was hyper aware of the eyes on them and tried to pull back.

Gilbert noticed, and reluctantly pulled back. He glanced at her and was caught off guard by her wide eyes boring into his.

He swallowed and turned away from her confused stare, throwing an arm around her shoulders, mumbling something about how he’ll “explain later but just go with it”.

When Anne turned around with him she nearly cowered under him. Winifred was staring at them like she just witnessed the two committing a murder. People around them stopped to watch the events unfold and Anne felt like she was going to throw up.

“Leave my girlfriend alone,” he said through gritted teeth.

Winifred’s face fell, but then grew into pure anger so quickly Anne barely realized what he’d had said.

_ Girlfriend? Excuse me? Since when were we dating? Is he stupid? Winifred’s going to really kill me now. But not before I kill this man. _

“So you weren’t lying?” She asked bitterly. She glared at Anne and stepped menacingly towards her but Gilbert carefully stepped in front of her to shield her. “Wow Anne. Guess you didn’t listen to me, huh?”

“Winnie-“

“Shut up Gilbert. She may be your precious little girlfriend after today, she’s gonna be known as the mattress of this school and wish she never met you. I told you not to mess with me, Anne.”

And with that Gilbert quickly pulled Anne’s arm and dragged them away from Winifred. Anne glanced back and saw Winifred was absolutely infuriated as she walked back to her friends. 

When the blonde was out of their line of sight and they were safe behind a building, Anne stepped on Gilbert’s foot to release his grasp on her and slapped him in the chest.

“Ow! Why do you always hit me?”

“Are you going to tell me what the hell that was?” 

Gilbert winced at her harsh tone. “I swear I thought I had it under control-“

“Did I tell you to confront her? No! You did exactly the opposite of what I wanted! I’m pretty sure I told you to leave me alone but what do you do? You kiss me in front of her! Are you going to explain yourself or should I just hit you again?”

“I really thought I had it under control. I confronted her and told her to leave you alone and, I don’t know, she got confused why I was defending you and the word ‘girlfriend’ just kinda slipped,” he explained.

Anne gaped at him in disbelief. A humorless and bitter chuckle rose out of her. “I’m sorry?”

“Look, she told me she overheard us yesterday  but  I think some of the words got twisted because I don’t think she heard us say it was only one night. She only heard that we slept together so, I just thought that if she thought we were dating she would connect the dots and back off. I didn’t know she was going to go psycho anyhow. I’m so sorry.”

“Sorry? She’s going to tell everyone that I’m a slut and practically ruin my social life and all you have to say is sorry?”

He blinked at her and rubbed the back of his neck, “You have pretty eyes?”

Anne wished she had another book in her hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was kind of weird but please just go with it LOL. I promise it will get better


	4. You and me we got big reputations

Just like Anne had warned, Winifred managed to destroy her reputation in mere seconds.

After the fiasco, Anne and Gilbert were arguing passionately- or more so Anne yelling at him and Gilbert pleading and apologizing- and somehow he ended up at her apartment. Diana, Cole, and Ruby were gone so she was free to yell as loud as she wanted. 

She was yelling about how stupid he was for the hundredth time when he got a tweet notification from Winifred, and after trying to hide the phone from the redhead and the accusatory digs as to why he even had her notifications on, Anne stole the phone from him and her mouth dropped when she saw what flashed on the screen.

“@anneshirley, feisty redhead, fiery temper, heard she’s EASY to get with...if you catch my drift ;)”

The comments weren’t any better. Some tweets from random guys had certain emojis Anne nearly gagged at when she saw. A couple replies were about her, ranging from “Woah she’s hot af” to “Easy? You don’t say?” with a suggestive emoji to accessorize it.

Her heart dropped when she saw the notifications for the message requests in her DM’s flooding in. She didn’t read any of them, but she saw the first few words and immediately threw her phone on the couch.

“Is this real? Oh my god, is this happening right now?” Anne hyperventilated. “This  cannot  be happening right now. This is a dream. Just a dream, I’m  dreaming.”

Anne pinched her hand roughly and winced. “Fuck!”

She tried to slap herself in the face but Gilbert caught her wrist.

“Are you trying to hurt yourself?” He exclaimed.

“I’m  trying  to wake myself up!” She snapped and forcefully tore her wrist away from his grasp.

Anne began pacing around her apartment as she nervously bit her nails, a habit she hadn’t done since her high school spelling bee. 

“Okay, this could be worse,” Gilbert tried to comfort her.

Anne glared at him and was about to smack him again but he caught her wrist, again.

“You know something? I feel like you take up boxing as a hobby.”

“Oh shut the fuck up! How can you make jokes when I’m being harassed online for something you caused?”

“Well I’m trying to be the comic relief here, but it looks like that’s not working.”

Anne whipped her wrist out from him. Her bottom lip trembled as she stared up at him, absolutely fuming. Her social status at school was ruined because of this tall, good looking, annoyingly stupid man, and yet he didn’t even seem phased.

Rings from Gilbert’s phone pulled her from her glare and she glanced away as Gilbert’s eyes widened at his phone, before quickly stuffing it away in his pocket. 

Anne eyed him, “What?”

“Hm? Oh nothing. Just some....grade alerts, or whatever.”

She raised an eyebrow at him, “You know, I hardly know you but I can already tell you’re a bad liar.”

He frowned at her, “It’s nothing, really.”

“Then why did your voice drop an octave?” She asked challengingly.

_Well fuck_ ,  he thought.

Gilbert sighed, “It’s not good.”

“What can be worse then Winifred advertising to everyone that I’m a free fuck?” She held her hand out for his phone. “Now let me see.”

He begrudgingly unlocked his phone and put it in her hand. He kept his eyes on hers and he winced when her face dropped.

They were texts from his friends- not necessarily friends, but people he associated himself with- that were asking crude questions about Anne. There were a range of ‘congratulations’ and celebratory emojis, but what really hit her was the incoming messages to a group chat he was in asking about her. They weren’t even censored or discrete, just full on slut shaming or asking of details about her.

Like it was a bomb, she threw his phone back to Gilbert and fell on her couch, her face in her hands.

Gilbert felt his stomach drop when he saw her like this. He sat next to her and tried to comfort her, but she rejected his advances and scooted farther away from him.

Anne laughed bitterly and removed her hands from her face, “I nearly forgot that we’re ‘dating’. Now that your ‘girlfriend’ is the campus’s slut, your reputation should be tarnished too but it appears that it’s not. This is hilarious, really.”

Gilbert frowned, “Hey-“

“Whatever, it doesn’t matter. I should’ve known, it’s always the girl who gets this label but it’s never the guy. Even if he’s the world’s biggest manwhore will get praised while a girl who’s slept with barely enough guys to fit on two hands.” She groaned loudly. “Look at us. Our reputations now: the slut and her boyfriend, the football star. It could be it’s own movie.”

Gilbert cleared his throat awkwardly, “Of course it matters. And I’m sorry for this, I really am. I hate shaming culture just as much as you do. But believe me when I say if those texts were any indication of what would happen to you, I don’t want to know the rest of it. I’m really sorry.”

Anne registered his words and his small blush silently. He seemed genuinely sympathetic that this was happening, but had a truly weird way of showing it.

“So? How do you suggest we fix it?” She asked.

He shrugged, “You want me to think of something? After my  brilliant plan with Winifred?”

She bit her bottom lip before sighing, “Guess not,” she muttered. 

A second ring interrupts them, but this time it’s from Anne’s phone. She refuses to look at it, believing some far fetched idea that someone happened to begin stalking her.

Gilbert glanced at her sadly, “Do you want me to check?” Anne nodded wordlessly. “Um, it says Cole, should I decline?”

Anne shook her head and took her phone from him, controlling her ragged breathing before pressing ‘answer’ and putting the phone to her ear.

“Okay Anne, either I’m going crazy or I just heard that Winnie bitch telling a bunch of people about your sexual exploits,” Cole said quickly.

Anne grimaced, “Not even surprised at this point.”

“What is going on? I’m getting concerned, confused, and I have five minutes before I have to goto class so you better talk quickly because I’m losing my mind.”

She let out a reluctant sigh and leaned back on the couch, her eye darting to Gilbert and narrowing. He was glancing at her- did he look worried?- with his eyebrows furrowed.

“Actually,” Anne started, “Blythe here can explain it.”

Gilbert’s eyes went wide as Anne shoved her phone to him. 

“This is so unfair,” he whispered.

“Explain what happened Mr. Feminist,” Anne said harshly.

His eyebrows faltered and he sighed reluctantly, putting the phone on speaker.

“Anne who the fuck is Blythe?”

“Gilbert Blythe,” she replied.

“Gilbert Blythe? That hot football dude who’s always at the library and has no social life?”

Gilbert frowned.

“You’re on speaker,” Anne informed him.

“Okay,” Cole said, either not realizing or not caring.

“Um, hi,” Gilbert started awkwardly. “Uh, I guess I should explain what happened.” He looked to Anne and she gestured for him to continue. “So, I may or may not have told Winifred that Anne is my girlfriend to try and get her to back off of her-“

“Wait hold on. To get her off your back? Shit Anne, what’d the Wicked Witch of the West do this time?”

Anne grimaced, “She threatened to publicly slut shame me or whatever if I was seen with Gilbert again.”

“And you guys are dating?”

Anne gave a pointed look towards Gilbert as he explained that they weren’t necessarily dating, ignoring Cole’s commentary in between. He explained everything from the beginning, causing them to begin to argue whoever who made the first move on the party on Sunday. After Cole’s delightful comment for them to ‘either shut up or rip each other’s clothes off’.

“So you guys are gonna, what? Fake date?” Cole asked, sounding genuinely intrigued.

Anne and Gilbert glanced at each other, uncertain how to answer. Of course people now thought they were dating so it was automatically assumed they were going to go along with it, but Anne thought that was ridiculous. She wouldn’t date Gilbert, much less fake date, just to save herself.

But before she could deny it, Gilbert said “Yes”.

He had to grab her wrists to keep her from smacking him again.

Cole sighed, “Okay I got to go but good luck with this, you’ll need it. Try not to fall in love with each other in the meantime.”

“You’re joking, right?” Anne asked desperately.

The call ended before Cole could respond.

Anne stared at Gilbert in disbelief, who had a slightly smug and slightly sheepish look on his face.

“So what? We’re fake dating now?” Anne asked crudely. 

Gilbert sighed, “Well, it appears so. Try not to fall in love with me,” he teasingly repeated Cole’s remark.

“Why are you suggesting I’d be the one to fall in love you?” She asked challengingly.

“Come on, I’m kind of irresistible,” he said cockily.

“You’re a nuisance.”

“Damn you’re mean.”

“You’re annoying.”

“You still slept with me though.”

Anne closed her eyes and breathed deeply, keeping her screams at bay as she heard a cocky chuckle from Gilbert. She opened her eyes and looked at him calmly.

“So what? We go on a couple dates in public, I laugh, you laugh, we split the bill and you kiss me or something? Is that how it works?”

Gilbert shrugs, “I guess so.”

They sat in awkward silence for a few moments, trying to absorb everything that just happened.

“This is stupid. I’m not doing it.”

“Well than what else are we supposed to do, huh?” Gilbert groaned. “I’m trying to help you and it seems like this is the only way you can get out of this mess. If you don’t, God, I can’t even imagine what will happen if you don’t. So are you in? Because I think this is your only option, Shirley.”

His jaw clenched and then quickly unclenched. He realized he really had no point in being annoyed by her, because she was right.  _ He  _ was the reason this was happening to her in the first place. He’s the one who decided to provoke her during class, get them sent out and start yelling, and then confront Winifred and have his plans backfire on him and blow up in Anne’s face.

He truly didn’t mean to. He thought he was helping. In all honesty, he was a tad sad when she said they shouldn’t talk to each other. He felt himself drawn to her for some reason that wasn’t just her eyes, even though that was a big contender.

After a long period of silence, Anne’s shoulder’s fell and her tension visibly dissolved. With a sigh, she pulled out the Notes app from her phone and looked at him questioningly.

“What?” He asked.

“We need rules. And a cover story. And you’re going to help me with them because I am not doing this on my own,” she explained.

He raised his eyebrows at her, amused, “You’re very clear-cut arent you?”

It probably wasn’t a compliment, but Anne took it as one and smiled proudly. “Why yes I am, thank you very much.”

Gilbert chuckled. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.”

She frowned. “Don’t back out on me now, Blythe.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Shirley. I love a good challenge.”

A small smile appeared on his face and he shook his head. She smiled back at him and nodded. He stuck his hand out towards her and she raised an eyebrow at it, but placed her hands in his and he firmly shamed it.

“Okay then. Starting now, we are dating.”

Gilbert sighed. “This is going to be interesting.”

“Oh you bet it will be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise the fluff and angst are coming next chapter!!!! This chapter was kind of weird and I honestly didn’t know where I was going with it, but I just wanted some Shirbert scenes lol.
> 
> Also please comment what you think if you want. I love hearing feedback and it gives me motivation and inspiration on what to write.


	5. I wanna be your endgame

The rest of the week went by quickly.

After they set rules and a backstory that Anne forced themselves to memorize, Gilbert had a plan to subtly make their ‘relationship’ public. They would walk to and from Ms. Stacy’s everyday hand in hand to and occasionally kiss each other to give people ideas.

Anne initially refused it, and it took Gilbert maybe an hour to convince her. He explained it was the most subtle way of making it seem real and serious since people somehow already knew they were together. Maybe Winifred spread it like a disease ridden mosquito, who knew? Gilbert also argued that it was better for him to be around with her since he ‘cannot trust these college guys around anyone’.

So with her head down and body practically mushed to his side, they walked to class together the rest of the week.

During class she tried to avoid him. Everytime he’d text her telling her to look up at him she would subtly send him the middle finger instead. But whenever they heard a certain group of people talk about her, Gilbert would bring out the protective boyfriend act and be there by her side.

There was an incident Thursday before class where he dramatically dipped her and kissed her deeply to get a slimy guy away from her. The kiss was passionate but too dramatic and when he finally put her on her feet when Ms. Stacy entered, she subtly stomped on his foot and he winced.

But now it was Friday, and class was over for the week. Anne barely noticed the class had been dismissed until Ms. Stacy knocked on her desk and gestured for her and Gilbert to talk to her. She avoided Gilbert’s eye as he packed his things before standing next to her in front of the professor. She began nervously tugging on the straps of her bag as she. She didn’t know why Ms. Stacy called them both but she wasn’t excited to find out. Her teacher, her role model, getting mad at her twice in one week? It was embarrassing and Anne wondered if she could even handle it.

“So, as you know, there was apparently a mix up with the T.A. system and one of you,” she pointed between them, “got placed here accidentally.”

Anne frowned, “So what’s going to happen?”

Ms. Stacy sighed, “They asked me to choose one T.A. and move the other to another American Literature professor, Mr. Phillips, after his quit.”

Anne couldn’t put a face to the name but recognized it. She hadn’t heard too much about Mr. Phillips that you didn’t hear with most college professors, like how they don’t care enough about teaching to actually do any. But she also heard that he gave off a weird aura, like he was a part of some witch cult or whatnot.

Either way, she didn’t want to leave Ms. Stacy’s. She was her favorite professor and could even say was a kindred spirit. She wanted to be a teacher just like Ms. Stacy, and the only way to be just like her was to stay with her.

“So, naturally, I started arguing with them, saying I couldn’t possibly just ditch one of my favorite students like that, so they gave me two weeks to decide.”

“Decide from what?” Gilbert asked.

“Since it was the first week this year, I didn’t have you guys do too much and only did the course introduction. But starting Monday, I’m going to have you guys do more: help with lesson plans, tutor help sessions, etc. And I’ll see who’s more tedious and hardworking and choose them.”

“Why not just make it easy and keep me already?” Anne half-joked.

Gilbert scoffed, “I think we all know I’m the most hardworking person between us two.”

“Oh please, all you do during class is annoy me. Believe me when I say I’m the one who’s staying.”

“I wouldn’t be too  _ Shirley _ about that.”

“Did you just make a pun out of my last name?” Anne quipped an eyebrow up at him. 

“Yeah, I’m actually not too proud of that one though,” Gilbert admitted bashfully.

“Good because it sucked-“

“As I was saying,” Ms. Stacy interrupted, but the smile on her face showed she was intrigued. “Now, I’m telling you guys this because I love you both and you were some of my brightest students, but please don’t take offense when I have to choose. I’m simply just deciding who I think will be more passionate about this class.”

Anne nearly scoffed. Passionate about this class? Anne was passionate about everything regarding literature. She doesn’t even know if Gilbert has ever read a book in his life. 

Regardless, she smiled politely, “Thank you for telling us, Ms. Stacy. But it’s hard to say if Gilbert can be passionate about literature if he couldn’t even make a pun out of my name.”

Gilbert cleared his throat, “Well,  _ Shirley  _ you could do any better?”

Anne glared at him and he smiled cockily. She whipped her attention back to Ms. Stacy, who looked like she was repressing a smile.

“That’s it, you guys are free to leave. Enjoy your weekend!” She smiled brightly and shooed them out.

They both nodded and smiled before turning together to walk out the door. When they left and her small hand tugged on his to enclose hers, Gilbert leaned down to whisper, “That wasn’t very couple-like.”

Anne rolled her eyes, “What were we supposed to do there? Cry and breakdown in front of her?”

“You could be a tad less mean, for starters,” he teased.

She frowned, “Fine. I’ll try next time.”

“That’s my girl.”

She rolled her eyes again. When they exited the building, she realized the amount of eyes on them and ducked her head. She felt Gilbert hover over her almost protectively as his grip on her hand tightened. He loosened it when Anne let out a small whimper and his eyes shot to hers.

“Shit, sorry, did I hurt you?” He asked, and Anne swore he almost sounded concerned.

She shook her head, shaking it off. They fell into relative silence after that. They haven’t really known what to say to each other these past few days when they walk to and from class. But the silence wasn’t really awkward, it was more comforting.

“So,” Gilbert started, “you’re coming to the scrimmage tonight, right?”

Anne groaned, “Do I have to? It’s not even a real game.”

He chuckled, “Well, your rules did say we had to support each other at our respective events but since you refuse to come to my practices, you could at least come to this. Plus I already gave you my letterman jacket to wear, so no backsies.”

Anne frowned when she remembered the jacket. It was too big on her and encompassed her to just above her knee. She could be stark naked underneath and no one would probably even notice. And to make matters worse, the colors were green and white and clashed with her hair, making her look like an  _ actual  _ carrot. Ruby reassured her the jacket looked cute on her, Diana was confused and couldn’t say anything, and Cole had to leave his room to laugh freely.

The only ones who knew they were fake dating were those three, mostly because when she tried telling their timeline they would come up with even more questions that she couldn’t explain. Cole was just laughing at her the entire time and was no help, Ruby couldn’t help but remark how ‘unbelievably’ romantic this was- despite the circumstances in which they fell- but Diana was the hardest to get on board with. 

_ “I just don’t think this is a good idea,” Diana tried to explain later that night. “He’s the one who got you into this mess in the first place, how do you know you can trust that it won’t happen again?” _

_ Anne sighed, stealing the bowl of M&M’s from her and shoving a handful in her mouth. “The thing is I don’t know. But Di, you should’ve seen the way guys were looking at me in class today.” Anne felt tears well up inside of her. “It was so disgusting and I was sure something was going to happen. They didn’t even leave when I told them I had a boyfriend! But when I told them it was Gilbert, they hardly even looked at me the rest of class.” _

_ Diana was quiet, occasionally munching on the blue M&M’s- which she claimed were the best ones. She shook her head before leaning it on Anne’s shoulder. _

_ “If he messes it up again I’m going to stuff M&M’s up his ass until that’s all he can taste,” she muttered. _

_ Anne’s hand halted right in front of her mouth and she slowly put them back in the bowl at the imagery.  _

_ Diana chuckled, “I probably should’ve said that at a different time.”  _

“So, who do you think is going to have to leave?” He asked, trying to make small-talk and bringing her away from her thoughts.

Anne snorted, “Do you really want me to answer that?”

“I think you’re greatly underestimating me, Shirley. I’m very serious about my studies even if I don’t look like it.”

“No, I believe that. Didn’t Cole say something about how you’re always in the library and have no social life?”

“Ha ha,” he mocked, making Anne giggle. “But seriously, I’m very determined when I need to be.”

Anne nodded, unconvinced, “Of course.”

“Do you really not believe me?”

“Given that the only thing you’ve done in class so far is annoy the hell out of me, yes.”

He rolled his eyes, turning around to face her when they approached her apartment complex. “Okay so the scrimmage starts at eight, but be there around seven.”

Anne frowned, “Do I have to go so early? I don’t think I want to spend an extra hour wearing that stupid jacket than I have to.”

“Yes, because I’ll need some pre-game encouragement,” he smiled smugly. “And you can’t look  _ that _ bad in it.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised.” 

Surprising them both, Gilbert cupped her cheek in his hand and directed her eyes up at him. He bopped her nose and she scrunched it.

“Don’t worry about it, you’ll look beautiful,” he reassured her. “And don’t think I won’t hunt you down if I don’t see you. I had to get vouchers for you and your friends to eat for free.”

Anne chuckled, “Now I feel like a gold digger.”

“Gold digging a broke college student?” He tsked. “You can do better than that, Shirley.”

“Remind me of that the next time I have to fake date a guy who’s ruined my reputation.”

“Ouch,” he laughed. They fell to silence again. He smiled softly, examining her eyes again like he was trying to determine what color it was. Anne eyed him weirdly but he seemed too entranced to even notice.

“Uh, I think they’re like ocean blue,” Anne muttered.

He hummed, satisfied. “That’s what I was thinking.”

Anne licked her lips and that action was enough to alarm Gilbert of how close he was to Anne, and he awkwardly pulled back.

“Um, so I’ll see you later?” He cleared his throat. “Oh, also wear something you can be comfortable in for the after party,” he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Wait, you didn’t tell me there was an afterparty?”

“Shirley, you’re in college. There’s an afterparty for everything.” He walked backwards away from her, leaving her confused. “Don’t forget the pom-poms!”

“Fuck you!”

Anne heard loud laughter behind her when she walked into the building, unaware she was smiling to herself.

~ ~ ~

Anne and her friends were outside the stadium, seven o’clock on the dot. Gilbert wasn’t even here, making her pissed that he asked for her to come early when he hadn’t even bothered to show up. It didn’t help that it was unusually cold, and she begrudgingly wrapped his jacket tighter around her body, shielding her outfit underneath as well.

“When he sees you in that, he’s going to cry,” Ruby, the ever hopeless romantic, squealed.

“Cry of pain because I’m kicking his groin when I see him,” Anne muttered.

Ruby smacked her arm, “If you want people to believe you guys are dating you shouldn’t emptily threaten him!”

“Who says it was empty?” Anne remarked and Ruby furrowed her eyebrows at her.

Thankfully, Diana and Cole finally came, their arms stuffed with food. None of it looked healthy and Anne was a bit concerned about her cholesterol level at that moment but when she caught a whiff of the salty pretzels, she took her own armful of food and began munching.

Cole grimaced, “You look so sexy right now.”

“Thank you,” Anne chuckled.

Diana nipped at her popcorn as she scanned the area, “Is he even here? Did he scam us?”

“Give him a minute, he’s probably still practicing,” Anne tried to defend.

“But isn’t this ‘game’ a practice? How do you practice for a practice?” Cole noted thoughtfully as he popped sour candies into his mouth.

The other three started thinking too, but since none of them had any knowledge about football, they decided not to question and to just go along with it. They began talking about whatever popped into their mind to fill the time. Just as Anne feared, he didn’t show up.

The conversation soon drifted to Cole’s secret boyfriend when the stadium opened up and people began filing to their seats. Anne scanned the area one last time for Gilbert, and her eyes narrowed when she finally saw him standing near the entrance, but he wasn’t alone.

Winifred was smiling and staring at him like he was a reincarnated god. She would touch his chest or his arms, and laugh at every word that emptied from his lips. Anne didn’t know why, but she frowned. He didn’t look to be hating it. In fact, he even smiled at her. It took Anne a few moments to realize he was in his green and white football uniform and she was clad in her cheerleading uniform.  _ What a cliche _ , Anne thought. The beautiful cheerleader, the hot football player, and the lowly, unpopular girl who somehow got tangled in this mess.

She saw him look up and she quickly looked back to her friends, and started walking towards the entrance. She kept her head low but doubted if it even did anything. She was wrapped in his letterman jacket and his last name and number was sprawled over her back. Anne ducked under Cole, and thanked god for his enormous height, as they walked past the two. 

Before she could go out of sight, she glanced back and saw Gilbert was looking at her. Not so much looking as it was gawking, but it didn’t even run through her mind when she saw his eyes leave hers and focus back on Winifred. She turned away before she could see what happened and kept her gaze on her half-eaten pretzel, finishing it slowly and sadly as her and her friends took their seats.

And soon the game began, and Anne didn’t fathom any of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is kind of all over the place and longer than I thought it would be but I hope you enjoy. I’ll have the next one up in a few days (don’t count on it though lol).


	6. I never trust a playboy but they love me

Anne waited in the parking lot for Gilbert when the scrimmage was over. She was thinking about just ditching the after party and going home, but her friends persisted. 

“Can you guys just go without me? I’m feeling sick, it’s probably the pretzel,” she lied.

Diana looked at her sympathetically. She noticed Anne was off during the game and when she asked what was wrong, Anne took her to the restrooms to explain what she saw. 

_ “Am I jealous? I mean, I have no reason to be,” Anne looked under each stall to make sure there was nobody. “She’s his ex, and we’re not even dating, but Di, seeing him with her made me feel so…” _

_ “Upset?” Diana inquired. _

_ Anne sighed, rubbing her hand over her face, “I don’t know.” _

_ “I don’t think you’re  _ jealous,  _ I think you’re rightfully upset that Gilbert is being friendly with Winifred after everything she did to you,” Diana explained. “He promised you he’d protect you and be there for you, but he can’t even let go of the one person who’s actually making your life hell.” _

_ Anne nodded slowly, taking it all in. Then she started nodding quickly. “Yeah, yeah. I’m not jealous. I’m angry, and rightfully so. _

But Anne couldn’t shake that nagging feeling in her mind telling her she was still upset about something that she couldn’t put her finger on.

“You can’t ditch Gilbert after he practically won the game by himself,” Cole scoffed.

Ruby smacked his arm, “It wasn’t just him. Number 43 was very helpful.” She blushed a bit at that mention and Anne raised an eyebrow up at her.

“Anne has every right to ditch Gilbert after he ditched her earlier,” Diana finally said.

“But maybe he was just busy, he’ll have a good explanation,” Ruby tried to reassure them.

_ Too busy flirting with Winifred, _ Anne thought.

And speaking of the devil, she looked up and saw Gilbert walking over towards Anne, a huge grin on his face that she just wanted to smack off. She forced herself to not think of how good he looked with his damp curly hair and green t-shirt that showed his muscles and his black track pants that showed off his.... 

His duffel bag was swung on his shoulder as he approached Anne, seemingly unaware of the deep frown she was giving him.

He looked awkwardly at her friends, especially Diana who was glaring at him. “Um, hi, I’m Gilbert.” He stuck his hand out to everyone.

“Okay,” Diana said nonchalantly.

Gilbert blinked and awkwardly dropped his hand. “Oh. Diana, right?” He asked uneasily.

She shrugged, “Maybe.”

Ruby nudged her friend and turned to Gilbert with a big smile, “Hi I’m Ruby, this is Cole, and yes, this is Diana.”

He nodded politely, “Nice to meet you all. Anne has talked about you guys so much I feel I practically know you guys already.”

“Yeah well, you don’t,” Diana scoffed.

“Ignore Diana,” Cole quickly chirped. “You were great out there.”

Gilbert blushed slightly, “Nah, it was nothing. The team was surprisingly cooperative given it was the first scrimmage of the season. I can’t take all the credit.”

“Wow and humble too.” Cole nudged Anne in the shoulder. “You really hit the fake boyfriend jackpot.”

He chuckled uneasily at them before glancing at Anne, who was staring down at the ground and hadn't uttered a single word. The jacket engulfed her, and if it weren’t for the black pants she had on he never would’ve guessed she was even wearing anything underneath. Regardless, he still thought she looked adorable just like he did earlier when he saw her.

“You guys ready?” He asked with a clap of his hands..

“So you’re personally escorting us? Wow I feel like a VIP,” Cole joked.

Gilbert laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. “Actually, I thought I was only taking Shirley here. But I wouldn’t mind-

“Hi!” A voice exclaimed from behind Gilbert, and he turned around and clutched his chest.

“Jesus Christ Moody,” Gilbert huffed. “I thought you already left.”

“Moody,” Ruby said breathlessly, her eyes wide and her smile small.

“I can take you guys to the party,” he said with his eyes set on Ruby, ignoring Gilbert. “I mean, only if you want. I would  _ never  _ force any of you guys to do anything but if you’re down, I can-“

“Yes!” Ruby agreed anxiously and her grin grew bigger. “Yes we’d love to.”

“Rubes-“

“Lead the way.” She smiled up at him before glaring back at Cole and Diana, daring them to say anything, and then continuing on with Moody at her side. Cole and Diana cast quick, apologetic glances at Anne- Cole turned her away before she could throw a middle finger at Gilbert- and Anne chuckled to herself when she saw the number 43 etched on the back of Moody’s jacket.

Gilbert cleared his throat and looked down at Anne, “Uh, do you know what that was about?”

She did. Ruby had also met a football player at the party last week where Anne met Gilbert and hadn’t stopped talking about him since. It was sweet and romantic in a way, but sometimes when she mentioned him she couldn’t help but think certain statements sounded borderline stalker-ish. She also spent the entire game looking for that one particular number and only cheered whenever he did something. But she merely shrugged at Gilbert. 

He shrugged in return, “Well, okay.”

They stood in front of each other awkwardly. She kept her glance down at their shoes while Gilbert knitted his eyebrows at her.

“Hey, you okay?” He asked.

She nodded, finally forcing her to look up. “Yeah, yeah. Can we go now?”

“Uh yeah-“

“Great.”

~•~•~

They arrived at the party only 10 minutes later and it was already in full swing. Music was blaring and crowds of people were spilling from inside the house. Gilbert opened the car door for her, but she didn’t bother thanking him and simply walked past him.

“Okay now hold on,” Gilbert ran in front of her and put his hands on her shoulder, stopping her in front of him. “Is everything alright? Are you mad at me?”

Anne scoffed, “A bit.”

“What’d I do? I swear I tried to come see you before the game but warm-ups lasted longer and then I got distracted-“

“By Winifred?” 

His face fell, “You saw that? Look I swear it wasn’t what it looked like-“

“I don’t care, Blythe, really,” Anne snapped. “We’re not actually together, you can flirt with that evil bitch as much as you like! It’s not like she’s, I don’t know, ruining my life right now or anything.”

Gilbert frowned, “I wasn’t flirting with her! She was flirting with me and I was trying to let her down nicely because I was uncomfortable-“

“You didn’t look uncomfortable when her hand was all over you,” she muttered. “Anyone could’ve seen that and it would’ve disproven our entire story! Everything would’ve been messed up for nothing because you can’t keep your dick in your pants around her!”

“I’m sorry! I am, but she ambushed me first and I didn’t want to cause a scene and reject her flat out!”

“You didn’t have a problem with that a couple days ago.”

“And look where that led us!” He exclaimed frustratingly, lowering his voice when people walked past. “I didn't know what she would do to you if I ignored her. She probably would’ve made it a bigger mess. Come on Shirley, I’m sorry, but it wasn’t what it looked like, I promise.”

His hazel eyes searched hers desperately. Anne didn’t reply. His story sounded plausible, but with him, she didn’t know what to believe. And it didn’t help that that nagging feeling telling her she was jealous was being so persistent.

She looked up at him, meeting his eyes. She wordlessly flung off his jacket and threw it in his face, leaving her revealed in her black lace bodysuit that left little to the imagination and high waisted black pants. She took her hair out of her braid and let the curls cascade over her shoulders, ruffling them to make it more presentable.

Gilbert gaped at her, too stunned to say anything.  _ She looked gorgeous _ .

“I’m going to get drunk with my friends and you’re going to leave me alone. Okay?” she stated. She walked past him, shimmying her ass just to taunt him, before turning back to him, who was still wide eyed and shocked. “Oh, and good job! Let’s see if you can still play that good at an  _ actual  _ game.”

And with that she disappeared into the house. The house was packed and if it wasn’t for Jane’s familiar face near the entrance, Anne would’ve probably been looking for her friends all night. She was dancing, drinking, and just being dumb with her friends plus the new group of Jane, Tillie, and Josie. Anne always suspected Josie didn’t like her, but she guessed being almost blackout drunk could change people’s opinions on someone. Ruby spent most of her time with Moody, who were both the designated drivers, laughing and smiling and Anne felt so happy for her friend she nearly threw up.

Diana was actively ignoring Jerry Baynard, another person on the football team Anne recognized was in her study group last year. He kept flirting with her and she would just roll her eyes and dismiss him. But a few more shots later they were in the corner of the hallway, hungrily making out. They finally met Cole’s secret boyfriend, a guy named Royal Gardner, and they disappeared halfway through. Then she was left with just Josie while Jane was busy beating all the guys in beer pong and Tillie was dancing with two men named Paul.

“So, Gilbert Blythe?” Josie asked, genuinely curious.

Anne nodded, “Yep.”

She nodded approvingly, “He’s nice. I’m glad you found him.” Anne stared at her confused, and Josie glanced and clicked her tongue, rolling her eyes. “What? I can’t be happy for you?”

“I didn’t think you were capable of feeling anything other than hatred towards me.”

Josie scoffed, “I’ve never  _ hated _ you, Anne. Sure you annoyed me sometimes with your big, philosophical talks, but I’ve always liked you. And,” she exhaled deeply, “it makes me mad that everyone on campus sees you as...you know. No girl should have to go through that.”

Anne smiled softly, “Aww, you like me,” she teased.

She rolled her eyes, but a hint of a smile appeared, “Anyways, Gilbert’s great. We were friends for a bit and I don’t think he’s ever been so public about his girlfriend’s then he’s been with you. He must really like you.”

_ If only she knew _ , Anne thought, gulping down her drink.

Josie caught the eye of a dark-haired girl at the corner of the kitchen, a mischievous glint in her eyes. She looked back towards Anne, “Will you be okay for a bit?” Anne nodded and Josie grinned, heading towards the girl, leaving Anne in the kitchen for a bit.

Everything was fine until she left to start dancing in the crowded living room. Bodies were crashing and jumping into each other and Anne blamed the alcohol at that moment for clouding her judgment and making her think dancing up on someone would be fun. She giggled uncontrollably when the stranger began dancing up on her too, his hands hovering over her body. She was too lost in the music and the movements of her body to realize the stranger left, and was turned around to face a pissed off Gilbert.

“What are you doing?” He exclaimed over the music.

Anne couldn't stop laughing over how Gilbert looked like a teenage mutant ninja turtle in his green t-shirt and letterman jacket he was now wearing. Gilbert’s frown grew deeper and he grasped her waist as she nearly tumbled over him, taking her drink from her grasp. He smelled it and grimaced.

“This is definitely Billy’s mix,” he coughed. “How many of these did you drink?”

She bit her bottom lip, seemingly in a daze, but held up one finger and said, “Two.”

Gilbert raised an eyebrow at her, “Are you a lightweight?”

Anne shrugged, “I did shots!” She exclaimed happily, like she was proud of herself. She started dancing up on Gilbert, and he nearly spilled her drink.

“I- uh,” he handed the drink to some random person passing by and put his hands on her shoulders. He chuckled uneasily and steadied her.

“Dance with me!” She whined, twirling his chain necklace in her fingers and bringing him down to her head level. “Please?” She begged. She pouted her bottom lip and made puppy-dog eyes, but it broke when she began laughing. “Look! I’m a cat!”

He couldn’t help but laugh with her.  _ What type of drink is she? An adorable, happy drunk?  _

His theory was confirmed when the song changed and she started jumping up and down giddily. He tore his eyes away from her bouncing breasts and cupped her face with his hands. She stopped jumping but was now looking up at him dopily, her hands resting on top of his. It was dimly lit in the room but he could tell she was staring up at him like she just realized he was here.

“Are you having fun?” Gilbert managed to ask, a small smile on his face.

She didn’t answer, instead gaping up at him. She furrowed his eyebrows at her as her hand slowly raised up and she touched his nose.

“Boop!” She giggled uncontrollably. Her hands then reached up into his curls and she tugged him down to her, their face merely an inch apart. 

Despite the blaring music and dim light, he managed to catch a glimpse of her eyes and he was instantly mesmerized. Their breaths were on each other’s, and when Anne started leading him to dance, he didn’t object. His hands fell lower and lower until it gripped her hips, and they started moving to the beat. More so Anne was, while Gilbert just moved his body along with hers. His eyes drifted over hers while hers were closed, but her hands clasped around his neck and brought their bodies impossibly closer. Their chests were pressed against each other’s but it was like Anne didn’t even notice. 

Gilbert seriously regretted not following his fellow teammates and getting drunk. He made a silent promise to himself to never drink during football season, but he wished he hadn’t. Being this close with Anne sober was not exactly the best idea. At least if he was drunk, he could blame his want to push her up against a wall and kiss down her neck on the alcohol. But nope, these were all sober thoughts.

Suddenly, Anne yelped and opened her eyes, falling into Gilbert’s grasp. She turned around to a familiar looking man, and her relaxed mood instantly fell when she realized it was Billy.

“Did you touch me?” She tried to sound intimidating, but the alcohol washing over her just made her sound whiny.

“What?” Gilbert exclaimed, furious. 

Billy smiled innocently. If it wasn’t his bloodshot eyes, then it was definitely his stumbling around the floor to indicate he was drunk. Gilbert wrapped an arm protectively over Anne’s shoulder.

“Just wanted to see if Gilbert’s little bitch was worth it,” he slurred.

“I’m not anyone’s little bitch!” Anne whined.

Gilbert tucked her behind him as Billy came closer. 

“Heard a lot of stuff about her, Blythe,” he snarled. “Isn’t it true what they say? Redheads are wild in-”

He didn’t finish because Gilbert’s fist hit the side of his face. Anne gasped as people stopped dancing to watch. Billy clenched his jaw with his hand, cursing, and staring daggers to Gilbert, who was also cursing under his breath and gripping his fist. Crowds started forming around them, and Anne was still left shocked. 

Billy stared menacingly down at Anne, who gulped. Before he could get to her, Gilbert tackled him to the ground in the crowd. People started screaming “Fight, fight!” and curses, a lot of people were recording, and a few were pushing through to see what was happening.

Diana, Ruby, and Cole appeared next to Anne with Jerry, Moody, and Roy respectively, and they all gasped.

“What happened?” Ruby exclaimed.

“I-I,” Anne stuttered out.

In a second, Jerry and Moody were forcing Gilbert away from a bleeding Billy and were moving him away from the crowd. 

“What the fuck just happened?” Diana finally exclaimed to her friends who were standing around Anne.

“Gilbert just messed up Billy’s face that’s for sure,” Cole muttered.

“Boo I wanted him to break his legs,” Jane rolled her eyes.

“Jane, Billy’s your brother,” Ruby said.

“I know.”

Her friends continued talking over each other when Anne moved away from them when Gilbert pushed Moody and Jerry off him, muttering something about getting her friends home before he grabbed Anne’s wrist and they dodged out of the house. 

When they got to his car, Anne started hitting him repeatedly in the arm.

“Ow! Goddamnit,” he muttered.

“You could’ve died!”

“Now I wouldn’t have  _ died _ -“

“Any physical altercation can result in death! And  _ you  _ could’ve been an example! What the fuck were you thinking?” Anne huffed. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared disapprovingly at him.

Gilbert rubbed his hand that hit Billy before starting the car, driving out from the scene of the crime. 

“I wasn’t,” he muttered. 

“Obviously not. I hope it was worth it, Blythe. Now you’re probably going to get suspended or-or arrested!”

“Didn’t he grab you?”

Anne huffed again, “I’m not answering that.”

Gilbert scoffed, “Because if he did then I would say yes, beating the shit out of him was worth it.”

“You didn’t have to put yourself at risk just to come to my aid. I’ve dealt with worse,” Anne replied without thinking. 

She didn’t give any indication that she realized what she said, but Gilbert still glanced over at her, concerned. He wanted to ask what she meant but decided asking while she wasn’t sober was not the way to go.

“Woah Shirley, say that again and I might get the idea that you care about me,” he joked. Anne didn’t reply and only let out a frustrated huff. Gilbert raised an eyebrow at her, a small smile playing on his lips. “You care about me?”

“I never said that.”

“You care about me,” he stated with a satisfied grin.

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes you do. Bet 10 bucks you’re in love with me right now,” Gilbert teased.

Anne frowned, “I hate you.”

He paused, “20 bucks then.”

“Keep your eyes on the road or you’re probably going to run over a squirrel,” she gestured vaguely to the road in front of them and he held one hand up in defense.

“I do not run over squirrels.” He paused, “Well not on purpose.” Anne gasped. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” He laughed. 

“What’s wrong with you!” She exclaimed.

“Oh come on, you fell for it.”

“You can’t joke about killing animals,” Anne whined. 

“You were the one who brought it up in the first place.”

“I don’t like it when you joke about killing animals,” she said quietly. She sounded so small and innocent when she said it that it tugged on his heart.

He glanced at her before turning back to the road, “I’m sorry.”

“Promise to never joke about killing animals again,” she said seriously.

He blinked at her, “I promise to never joke about killing animals again.”

“Okay,” she exclaimed gleefully, and the happy drunk inside of Anne was back. “Are you dropping me off at my place?” 

Gilbert nodded, “Yeah. We should be there in a bit.”

Anne frowned, “Can I go back to your place?”

The images of them at his place last week flashed through his mind and he quickly shook his head with a gulp. “Uh, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why?” She whined like a toddler who’s mom just told her she couldn’t have ice cream.

“Shouldn’t you go home? Your friends will be there soon and will be scared if you’re not there,” he tried to reason.

She blew a raspberry, “Bleh. I can just tell them I’m with you. That’s why phones were made,” she said in a ‘duh’ tone.

Scrunching his nose, he relented and turned around back to his place. Anne clapped enthusiastically and Gilbert stifled a laugh.

“You’re somehow more difficult when you’re drunk,” he sighed.

“Why thank you,” she giggled. “I get that a lot. I don’t know if you could tell, but I’m not really the most open and friendly person, especially to you.”

Gilbert gasped dramatically, “Really? I didn’t know.”

“I  _ know _ !” She shook her head like she couldn’t believe it. “It’s not that I hate you or anything, I feel like we could be friends, it’s just that I’m not necessarily supposed to like you because, you know. You’re the reason every guy on campus wants to fuck me and thinks I’m easy yada-yada. But I feel like once we get over that and the fact that we slept together, whew, I could start tolerating you.”

Gilbert tapped his finger against the steering wheel as Anne dropped the conversation and started humming to herself as she stared out the window. 

“I don’t know if you’ll remember this when you’re sober,” he started, “but since we're being honest I’m just going to say it. I’m sorry I was talking to Winifred earlier.” Anne didn’t say anything and he kept going. “I meant it when I said I wasn’t flirting with her, I was just trying to keep her from doing anything to hurt you again.”

Anne was silent the rest of the way, even her humming stopped. She didn’t say anything as they got out of his car and he helped her up to his place. He wrapped his jacket around her and she let out a small huff but still kept her mouth closed. It wasn’t until he got her bottled water and she sat against his headboard that she finally spoke.

“Okay.” She bit the inside of her cheek, regarding the conversation earlier. “I believe you. I think I just got angry that you were talking to her after everything she's done,” she sighed.

Gilbert sat on the edge of the bed and helped take her shoes off. “That’s understandable,” he admitted. “But know that I’d never intentionally hurt you,  _ never _ .”

Anne regarded it for a second, and a smile came and fell as fast as a frown came. “It’s just, if you keep hanging out with Winifred, people are going to think you’re with her or something,” she said softly, keeping her gaze on her lap.

Gilbert sat down beside her and nodded, “I understand that, but we’ve been broken up for almost two years. People know it wasn’t a clean break too, I doubt they’d think I was, what, cheating on you with her?”

A small sniffle escaped her and Gilbert looked at her in concern. He scooted closer to her and cupped her face to look at him, his stomach dropping when he saw the sadness in her eyes.

“You don’t get it, they _ would  _ believe that,” she admitted quietly, moving her eyes away from him. “You’re hot, anyone with eyes could see that. Winifred is hot too. She’s all blonde and tall and gorgeous. I’m...not. I’m short, I have red hair, I have freckles dotted all over my skin. No one would question it if they saw you ‘cheating’ on me with someone as gorgeous as her.”

Gilbert furrowed his eyebrows at her in confusion and shook his head desperately, making her face him again. Her wide eyes that were on the brink of tears and the small pout of her lips nearly broke him.

“Hey, you’re beautiful,” he said breathily. “Don’t ever compare yourself to Winifred.”

“It’s hard not to when she looks like  _ that _ ,” she muttered.

He scoffed, “You're ten times as beautiful as she is. Don’t listen to whatever ludicrous thought is running through your mind.”

She frowned and scooted away from him, “It’s not just my thoughts, it’s obvious by people like you. Remember when you laughed at me when we got kicked out of Ms. Stacy’s?”

Gilbert’s face fell, “What? No no, I wasn’t laughing  _ at  _ you.”

“You couldn’t even look at my face without laughing. What was I supposed to think?” she whined.

“I was laughing because I thought you were cute when you’re angry!” He exclaimed. “What? You thought it was because I thought you were ugly?”

Anne didn’t reply. She laid herself down on the bed and turned her body to face the other side of his room.

He sighed, exasperated. “Would you believe me if I said you’re probably the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen?” He admitted quietly.

“No,” she said without missing a beat.

“Well then I don’t know what to tell you except you need to stop comparing yourself to other girls, especially Winifred, because they’re no match for you, looks wise or personality wise.”

Anne didn’t move or reply again. When this continued for a few more moments, Gilbert reluctantly got up to get ready for bed. When he returned from the bathroom, he saw she was still in the same position, his jacket wrapped around her smugly. 

“Are you going to stay here or-“ he stopped when he walked over and saw she was asleep. “I guess you are,” he muttered.

He couldn’t help but smile faintly when he saw how soft she looked when she slept. Her red hair cascaded over her face and he bent down to move out of her and over her shoulder. He found himself staring at her for an unruly amount of time and shook his head out of it as he stood up. 

_ Well this is great,  _ he thought when he saw she took up most of the middle of the bed. He laid down quietly and tried to scoot as far as he could to give her space but groaned when his forehead hit his nightstand. So he scooted back until his back was hovering over hers, making sure to keep silent as he leaned over to turn the light off.

“Goodnight Shirley,” he said quietly, and then the room fell into silence and darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was longer than I planned lol.Hopefully this makes you guys less mad from the last chapter. Believe me when I say I would never make Gilbert intentionally hurt Anne, he’s too perfect in my eyes to do that.


	7. Baby let the games begin

Anne practically ran into the building, shutting the door behind her right before Gilbert could enter.

“Ha! Slowpoke,” she teased and stuck her tongue out at him through the door windows. 

Gilbert scowled at her. He tried to open the door but Anne kept her grip on the handle with a wicked smile, pushing against him everytime he tried to push it open. 

“Let me in. You can’t do this forever. We’re in a public building,” he warned.

Anne scoffed, “I know what you’re doing, you can try but you won’t outsmart me in this.”

“You’re acting like we’re fighting to the death,” he said with a chuckle.

“So because I’m a determined woman I’m overexaggerating?” She feigned a gasp and Gilbert’s eyebrows narrowed at her. “Shame on you.” She shook her head at him.

WIth a deadly glare, he tried forcing the door open again. This time, Anne let him, and didn't bother checking if he fell on his butt before she dashed down the hall, slowing to a fast walk as she approached campus security.

“Shirley!” Gilbert called out.

Anne hurriedly ran into Ms. Stacy’s empty classroom, minus the bewildered professor at her desk.

“Good morning-”

“Good morning Ms. Stacy! It’s truly a lovely day today, isn’t it? Do you need me to do anything? Anything at all to help you?” Anne said quickly, keeping her back to the door and her hands on the handle. A moment later, there was a push at the door.

“Shirley, I swear, open this door right now!” Gilbert exclaimed through the other side of the door.

“Or what?” Anne hissed over her shoulder.

Ms. Stacy blinked up at Anne and asked cautiously, “I’m sorry, did I miss something?”

Anne smiled sweetly at her teacher. “Not at all. We’re just having fun.”

“Open this door right now or I'm breaking through. 1….2…3!”

Gilbert ran through the door, but at the last minute Anne opened it up and he tumbled in, cursing as he nearly lost his footing and almost fell down the steps. He glared back at Anne over his shoulder while she smiled innocently up at him, pushing past him to dart to Ms. Stacy’s desk.

“Is there any work you’d like for me to do? Maybe some help with the syllabus-”

“I could help with that! Or if you want I can help with the lesson plan for the day-”

They talked over each other as they raced to where Ms. Stacy sat, startled.

“I got here first,” Anne snapped as she pushed Gilbert behind her, making him scowl. She turned back to her professor with a sweet smile. “Ms. Stacy, I know teaching must be so stressful. And you know me, I’m always so keen to learn and help others-”

“Suck up,” Gilbert coughed into his elbow.

She snapped her head to him, “What did you just say?”

He shrugged, smiling smugly.  _ Bastard, _ Anne thought.

Before she could reply, Ms. Stacy cleared her throat and rose from her desk. The two TA’s faced her with hopeful looks on their face, waiting patiently for their teacher’s instructions.

“I actually already had plans for you two this week. So today and Thursday, I’m going to have you two at the help sessions. But for now, Anne- you can help me with the daily lesson plan.” Anne smiled victoriously at Gilbert over her shoulder. “And Gilbert- you can help me with the lecture.”

“Huh?” Anne said in disbelief.

“Ha!” Gilbert exclaimed triumphantly, sticking his tongue out to mimic earlier.

She glared at him and said through gritted teeth, “I hope you trip down the stairs and break your back.”

“What happened to ‘friendly competition’?” He retaliated.

Ms. Stacy, who was glancing between the two with an amused expression, halted their argument by telling the two to get their laptops out. They sat themselves at their desks as their professor guided them through her plan while Gilbert kept a soft gaze on the redhead across from him. When she looked over at him, he’d replace it with a cocky grin, just to spite her. Anne would reiterate with a subtle glare or a mouthed “Fuck you” when Ms. Stacy wasn’t looking.

Ever since the party on Friday and the time spent together the morning after, Gilbert felt it was safe to say they were officially friends. They could openly admit their annoyance with each other comfortably. He was shocked to say the least, thinking there was honestly nothing Anne could feel but hatred towards him. 

But when he spent some time with a drunk Anne, he knew she didn’t hate him, she just held a grudge for getting her in such an uncomfortable position. He couldn’t even blame her, she had every right to be pissed at him. 

He wasn’t sure if she remembered what they talked about when she was drunk but he felt obligated to tell her about it the next morning. Relief washed over him when she didn’t argue, and was shocked when they fell into an understanding. She even went as much as joking that they were “just friends who saw each other naked once”. He didn’t laugh with her when the slight pain in his chest grew.

It’s not that he wanted to sleep with her again. (Okay, maybe he did. But you could hardly blame him, she was just so goddamn pretty). It nearly tore his heart when she drunkenly admitted her physical insecurities to him. The fact that she thought she was ugly when she was the most beautiful and ethereal person he’d ever seen barely filtered through his mind. How can someone who looks like  _ that  _ possibly call herself ugly? 

When he woke up with her somehow curled into his side, he almost slapped himself. He couldn’t believe what he saw. She looked so peaceful and soft, her princess red curls sprawled over her body and the faint light from the closed windows illuminating her dotted freckles. He had half a mind to trace his finger over all of them. When she opened her blue eyes- those cursed blue eyes- up at him with a small whimper as she woke up, his breath hitched. 

Anne Shirley-Cuthbert was quite possibly the most beautiful person to walk this planet and Gilbert had no idea how he was so lucky to be in the position he was in not a few days ago.

“Since Gilbert seems to be dozing off, can I assist with the lecture instead?” Anne’s voice snapped him out of his daze, and he rolled his eyes at her.

“I’m fine,” he scoffed. 

Ignoring the redhead’s glare, he listened intently to Ms. Stacy and flew through the class with ease. The raven haired boy was painfully aware of the weird stares from students that were no doubt from the debacle during Friday night’s party. He had nearly forgotten about it until now. Billy did nothing to get his revenge on him- well, not yet. 

Later that afternoon during the help session, Anne kept her gaze on her book. Gilbert was sitting across from her with his legs propped up on the table as he rapted his fingers on the table. Anne glanced up at him from her book and he smiled.

“Hey Shirley,” he said in a sing-song tone, moving his legs down so he could rest his arms on the table and lean over to her. When she didn’t reply, he frowned, “Shirley, Shirley, talk to me I’m bored.”

“One minute,” she muttered.

Gilbert tore her book out from under her.

“Hey!” She exclaimed.

He held the book away from her. “You’re mad at me,” he noted.

Anne frowned, “No I’m not.”

She groaned when he cocked an eyebrow up, obviously not buying it.

“You’re not getting this back until you tell me why you’re upset.” He glanced at the cover and the corners of his lips quirked up. “ _ Pride and Prejudice _ ? Nice, I knew you were a hopeless romantic.”

Anne rolled her eyes but didn’t give the satisfaction of answering him. Instead, she reached over for her laptop and kept her gaze on the screen. Gilbert’s eyebrows furrowed, and when he leaned over the table to see what she was doing, he nearly howled in laughter.

“Do you just have a  _ Pride and Prejudice _ PDF tab open all day?” He said through a stifled laugh.

“You’re so annoying,” she complained with a smack of his arm. However, her cheeks flushed, like she was embarrassed to be caught.

Pitying the poor girl, Gilbert slid her book back to her. The utter happiness on her face when she saw it was absolutely adorable. Her eyes lit up as well, but it was a blink and you’ll miss it moment.

“So since I gave you your book,” he cleared his throat, “care to tell me what I did?”

Anne frowned. She expected him to drop it but she obviously underestimated his stubbornness.

She bit her bottom lip, contemplating why she in fact was even mad at him. There was no definite answer. She was upset that Ms. Stacy somehow favored him over her that day, she was still holding a slight grudge against him for everything happening, but most of all, she was confused. 

She wanted to hate him so bad. But on Saturday morning when he helped her and took care of her during her hangover, and even explained everything, she found it hard to even hate him. She was also angry that her body was betraying her whenever she was around him. Those stupid butterflies and her intent gazes on features of himself that she- a simple fake girlfriend slash friend slash former one night stand- should  _ not  _ be paying attention to.

But she couldn’t say all that, so she opted for the safe route- lying.

“You didn’t do anything,” she mumbled. “I’m just tired.”

He eyed her for a moment. Ever since the misunderstandings on their first day as a TA and at the game with Winifred, Gilbert had tried not to make Anne upset again. So the fact that he somehow managed to hurt her was like a pain in the gut.

“Is it because you’re stuck here with me for another hour?” He said, only half-joking.

Anne rolled her eyes. “Yes, definitely,” she said sarcastically.

“Well I can leave. In fact, I have a date with Netflix right now-”

“Oh shut up. You can’t leave or else Ms. Stacy’s going to be upset at her new favorite,” she scoffed, a small frown forming on her face when she realized what she had said.

Gilbert cocked an eyebrow up at her, “You think I’m Ms. Stacy’s favorite?”

Anne shrugged, “Maybe.”

“Is that why you’re upset?” He asked cautiously.

“Maybe,” she muttered, and kept her gaze on her book.

He pursed his lips, not really knowing what to say. 

“I don’t think I’m her favorite just because she let me help with the class today,” he tried to defend himself.

Anne bit her bottom lip as she glanced up from her book to him. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to go back to my apartment and cry about it all night. It’s not that big of a deal. I just think it’s ironic that she chose you to lead a Literature class over the English major,” she said the last part quietly hoping he wouldn’t hear, but guessing by the surprised look on his face, he did.

“Hey just because I’m not an English major doesn’t mean I don’t like the course.”

“I never said that. I just meant it would’ve been logical to let the person who’s an English major and is going to pursue a career in writing to lead the class.”

“I’m sure Mr. Phillips would let you do that,” he teased.

Anne scrunched her nose at the mention of him, “I doubt it. I’ve heard rumors about him that aren’t too pretty, and besides, he’s not Ms. Stacy, my training would just go to waste.”

Gilbert studied her for a moment. “Training for what?”

“To be a teacher.” She said in a ‘duh’ tone. “Ms. Stacy is probably the best teacher to ever live in Canada and if I want to be a good teacher too I have to be exactly like her.”

He nearly burst into laughter until he realized she was dead serious, and he quickly composed himself.

“Why would you want to copy exactly what she does? Why not just be yourself?” He offered.

She feigned a gasp, “Woah, I didn’t even think of that. You, Gilbert Blythe, are a genius.”

“Shut up,” he rolled his eyes as Anne giggled. “I’m just saying, I’m sure you’d be a great teacher when you grow up. You’re smart, somewhat likable, and nice on your good days, you’ll be perfect with or without Ms. Stacy’s guidance.”

She frowned and Gilbert thought for a minute that he accidentally hit a sore spot and she was going to be mad, again. But when she sighed and met his eyes with her big ones, he realized she wasn’t mad, but looked sad instead.

“It’s not just that,” she admitted, muttering. “ _ Everyone _ loves Ms. Stacy, and I mean  _ everyone.  _ Not one student that’s had her has ever had anything bad to say about her. She connects amazingly with her students, they had high passing rates, hell, she even goes above and beyond and inspires them. I want to do that, and the only way I can find out how to is by continuing to learn from her.” Anne sighed, exasperated, when she saw Gilbert’s furrowed eyebrows. “It’s just, it’s a long story really, I have a tendency to need to make  _ everyone  _ like me.”

Gilbert pondered something for a moment before saying, “So you think if you copy Ms. Stacy exactly, you'll have a 100% approval rate?” Anne nodded. “Come on, even you have to admit that’s impossible. Not everyone you meet will fall to your feet and adore you.”

“If that’s the situation with people like Ms. Stacy or Beyoncé, why can’t it be like that for me?” She challenged.

“Because they aren’t faking a persona just to seem likable that will only just make people annoyed by them,” he retaliated.

Anne frowned and started fiddling with the pages of her open book. Gilbert wasn’t sure what she was thinking but he somehow knew he ventured into dangerous territory.

“Why can’t I do that? It seems being myself hasn’t exactly been a crowd pleaser,” she asked.

“What are you talking about?”

“I mean,” she trailed off for a moment, pondering for a minute before closing his eyes as she exhaled loudly. “It’s a long story. But for now, yeah. It also doesn’t help that I hardly did anything and half the people on campus think I’m a slut or have no morals. They don’t even know me yet I’m already a menace to society.”

“Hey don’t say that,” he said quickly.

“It’s true,” she said bitterly. “I did a normal thing that young adults do like everyday yet I’m getting singled out and made fun of. Maybe if I was different-“

“If you were any different I wouldn’t have bothered my time with them,” he scoffed. “You don’t understand how wonderful you truly are, seriously. Everyone who’s gotten the privilege of knowing you personally is so lucky.”

“Winifred doesn’t think so,” she muttered under her breath, “But thanks, I guess. At least I managed to convince you to not hate me,” she smiled politely before he could interject.

He furrowed his eyebrows before leaning closer against the table, “I never hated you.”

Anne rolled her eyes, “I literally hit you with a book there’s no way you didn’t hate me.”

“And I absolutely deserved it, so no, I don’t blame you.”

He swore there was a faint blush on her cheeks before she shook her head with a small smile. “Thanks.” Anne paused for a moment before furrowing her eyebrows. “You know, now that I think about it, I don’t even know what your major is.”

“Guess it never came up,” he shrugged. “I’m in Pre-Med.”

Anne’s eyebrows shot up. She did almost nothing to hide the shock in her expression.

“Really?” She asked with a small smile. “I did  _ not _ peg you as a Pre-Med student.”

“What? You thought I was majoring in Computer Science?” He joked.

Anne shrugged, “I just didn’t think you were a Pre-Med student given that I hardly see you study. Cole said you’re always cramming in the library but I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen you read.”

Gilbert guffawed, “Just because I’m going to be a doctor doesn’t mean I can’t have a little break when I’m studying.”

“Isn’t that exactly what it means?”

He playfully stuck his tongue out at her and she stifled her giggles. 

“What made you want to go into Pre-Med?” She asked. She couldn’t help herself, she was curious by now.

Gilbert’s expression fell for a moment before he quickly collected it. He sat upright in his chair and cleared his throat, running his hands through his curls- which, Anne bedruginly noted, he only seemed to do whenever he felt nervous.

“It’s a long story,” he stammered.

Anne checked the time on her phone and gave him a mischievous look. “People aren’t supposed to be here for another few minutes, we have time.” He visibly gulped and her face fell. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

He quickly shook his head and waved it off, “No no, it’s fine. It’s just that I haven’t spoken about it in quite a bit,” he said. “So- you want the overview or the novel-long explanation?”

She shrugged, “Whichever works for you.”

He was silent for a moment as he leaned back in his chair, his hands rapting against the table. Anne noticed and gently took his hand in hers. His eyes looked up at hers and she gave him a comforting smile that made his heart flutter and almost made him smile back until he finally spoke.

“My mom died giving birth to me and my dad died when I was 16,” he started, dropping his gaze to their intertwined hands. “I’m not exactly sure how my mom died since my dad didn’t like talking about it, but I remember everything about his death. He had pancreatic cancer, and since it mostly isn’t diagnosed until it’s too late, there was nothing to do but just wait for his death. But I was young and-and stupid and believed that somehow I could save him,” he chuckled humorlessly at the memory. “I went to every library and bookstore near me and read almost every medical related text they had. And yes, I was  _ that  _ kid that tried to tell the doctors how to do their jobs.” He stopped for a moment as he involuntarily began rubbing circles with his thumb on the back of her hand. “When he died, I-I felt so useless. I want to help people, I don’t want anyone else to go through what I went through. I don’t want to feel useless anymore, I don’t know.”

He felt a tight squeeze on his hand and looked up to Anne who had a pained expression on her face.

“You were an orphan?” She asked quietly.

Gilbert choked back tears, chuckling humorlessly, “For a bit, yeah. But that’s a whole other story.”

She bit her lip, nodding in understanding. Wordlessly, she removed her hand, got up, and walked around the table to him, enveloping her arms around him in a comforting hug. He wrapped his big arms around her small body, digging his head into her chest as he tried to control his breathing. Soon he found himself relaxing. Maybe it was the power of Anne’s hug that made him feel better, but he didn’t say anything, and when she pulled away, he fought to reach out for her again.

Anne sat down in the chair next to him, rubbing her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry you went through that. No one should go through something like that,” she said breathlessly. 

He shrugged, wiping his damp eyes with the back of his hand. “It’s fine. It hurt at the beginning and it took a while, but my life got better. I’m sorry for crying, I just-I just haven’t spoken about it in so long.”

“Don’t apologize,” she insisted. “I bet your dad would be so proud of you.”

He glanced at her with a curious look, “What would he be proud of?”

“That you used your pain to do something that’ll help people. It’s so brave,  _ you’re  _ so brave.”

A small smile peeked on his lips and he grabbed the hand that was comforting his shoulder and intertwined their fingers again. “Thank you,” he said quietly. Gilbert was scared that if he glanced into her eyes that were staring at the side of his head painfully, he would fall in a trance in them.

“And hey, you know, you’re lucky in a way,” she started. “You found out what you’re passionate about and turned your life around.”

His eyes finally snapped to hers, but he didn’t feel entranced by her eyes. Instead, he felt put off by her statement.

“What?” He asked in disbelief, dropping their hands. “You think just because I found out what I wanted to do with my life because my dad  _ died _ I’m  _ lucky _ ?”

“Well I just meant-” She stammered.

“I know what you meant,” he scoffed. “You think I’m lucky that I had to watch my dad slowly die in front of me while I felt absolutely helpless and useless? You think I’m lucky that I was an orphan and suffered through the worst year of my life because I found out I wanted to pursue a career in medicine?”

“I didn’t mean it like that-”

“Do you even have any idea what I went through? Have you ever gone through something like that? Your mom dying because of  _ you _ and your only living relative dying in front of your eyes? Feeling so useless in life because you had no one? Have you ever gone through something so traumatising like that?” He snapped, his voice growing louder as he continued. “What’s the worst thing that’s happened to you, huh? Getting called a whore by people who barely know you? Because I can tell you, princess, if you don’t know anything that I’ve gone through, you can’t speak on whether or not I’m ‘lucky’.”

He tried to keep his temper in check as he saw Anne’s bottom lip quiver, but the anger in him was bubbling. Those words hit a sore spot, and he couldn’t even believe he heard them, especially from her. But when he saw her eyes start to water, his expression fell.

“I’m sorry-” He started as he tried to take her hand, but was cut off by her abruptly moving his hand away.

“I don’t know what you’ve gone through?” She asked quietly, yet pained. “My parents died when I was three months old. I was in an orphanage for 13 years- 13. Every foster home I was sent to hated me, hit me, abused me, I wasn’t even wanted by my adopted parents when they first got me. They thought they were getting a boy. They didn’t even want me. I was taunted and harassed for even longer by the people in the city.  _ No one _ wanted me or liked me. I never even knew my parents, the only people who ever loved me. I still get nightmares about everything almost 10 years later.” She stared Gilbert dead in the eyes as she continued. “So no, being slut-shamed isn’t the worst, most traumatising thing that’s ever happened to me, my whole childhood was the worst thing to ever happen to me. No, this isn’t a competition, and I’m sorry for my poor wording, I just meant you’re lucky that you found happiness after everything because believe it or not, some people didn’t.”

Gilbert stared at her, crestfallen. Before he could reply, the sound of the door opening snapped them both to see a couple students enter for the help session. Gilbert quickly looked back to Anne who wiped the tears away from her face with her hands before smiling politely and excusing herself to the bathroom. He tried reaching for her as she pushed past him, but she brushed him off, scurrying off. She didn’t come back until 30 minutes later, and her words tugged at his heart the rest of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long to rewrite, I’ve been extremely busy but here’s a long chapter to make up for it!
> 
> Also please don’t be a silent reader! Reading your comments encourages me to keep writing and not completely give up on this story.


	8. If you ever walk away, I’d beg you on my knees to stay

“Just apologize to her it isn’t that big of a deal,” Moody groaned loudly as he entered the kitchen, snooping through the cabinets for a snack.

Gilbert frowned as he chopped the carrots. “Was I talking out loud again?” He asked.

Moody smirked, “Yeah. I heard more about your relationship in 10 seconds then I’ve heard the past few days, which is saying  _ a lot _ .”

The raven haired boy rolled his eyes. “Whatever,” he mumbled.

His friend eyed him before frowning, leaning on the counter next to the cutting board to get Gilbert’s attention. “I don’t know what you and Anne fought over, but she seems sweet and good for you. Just apologize and don’t fuck it up anymore than you probably already have.”

“That’s the thing, I’ve tried apologizing the past few days but she won’t even talk to me,” Gilbert sighed, clenching his jaw as he continued dicing the carrots, harder this time.

Moody grabbed the knife handle before Gilbert could chop his hand off. “Jesus don’t chop your hand off.”

Gilbert cocked an eyebrow, “Do you think if I did she’d have to forgive me?”

The two pondered it momentarily before Moody smacked his lips and shook his head. “You’re crazy. Just be a normal person and say ‘Sorry I fucked up’.”

“You don’t understand,” Gilbert sighed. “I hurt her badly. I wasn’t thinking and I said something so fucked up.”

“Gilbert, please just do something that’ll stop you from moping around. Beg or buy her a house or something,” Moody offered.

“Thanks you’re so helpful,” he said sarcastically.

Moody clapped his hand on Gilbert’s back, “No problem.”

Rolling his eyes and grabbing the knife from Moody, Gilbert grimaced. He did contemplate stopping class to dramatically drop to his knees and beg Anne for her forgiveness. He had no idea he would be so upset that she refused to talk to him. It’s not like they were even that close, but he found himself missing the usual verbal banter, and how she became absolutely infuriated and flushed when he would so much so as smirk.

He shook his head. “Whatever, how’s Ruby?” He asked, desperately needing a change of topic.

Gilbert had never seen a young adult man blush as hard as his best friend right at that moment.

Moody shrugged sheepishly, “It’s going good.”

Gilbert grinned in response, “Just good?”

“Maybe a bit better,” Moody said and Gilbert laughed. “She’s amazing. Really, truly amazing. It’s like every time I’m near her I’m insanely happy and I feel like I can achieve world peace.”

Gilbert’s dicing of carrots slowed. “Are you in love with her or something?”

Moody blushed again, “I don’t know, but I feel like I could be.” He eyed his friend. “Are you in love with Anne?”

He was glad he stopped cutting the carrots before his friend asked him. Moody didn’t know they weren’t actually together, and when he and a handful of others found out through Winifred’s gossip, he didn’t bombard him with questions. That’s one of the reasons Gilbert was grateful to have Moody as a friend, he just seemed to adapt to everything without question.

“Uh, I don’t know,” Gilbert murmured.

Moody was silent for a moment before he leaned off the counter looking like he was somewhat in a daze. 

“Good luck with her by the way,” he said as he left the kitchen. “I hope you’re not in another Winnie situation again.”

Moody left before he could reply. And Gilbert was left with way too many diced carrots and a gnawing feeling in his chest when he made the connection between the vegetable and his current predicament 

~•~•~

“Why isn't the ticket booth at the entrance?” Anne exclaimed in frustration.

Cole and Roy, who were gaping at the small redhead with the table in their hands, groaned simultaneously.

“We were told to put it here,” Cole explained.

“It’s supposed to be at the front,” she groaned. “What are you standing there for? The carnival starts in half an hour! Go!”

The two cursed under their breath as they hoisted the table and moved back to the entrance. Anne glared at them when she heard her name followed by words she were sure were not kind.

Being in charge of the back to school carnival was enough to take Anne’s mind off of everything and she thanked God for the perfect timing of it all. She could let out her frustration and anger and just blame it on her desire for perfection without seeming off. But it just so happened the very object of her frustration was walking towards her with his hands in his jean pockets and just looking so devilishly handsome. She was sick of it.

When she turned around and tried to walk off to a random booth for inspection, she felt a gentle grasp on her forearm that twirled her around to meet his broad chest.

“You’re avoiding me,” he said quickly.

Anne kept her fists tight on his chest as she tried to casually push off of him, but she greatly underestimated his strength.

“What are you doing here? The carnival isn't open for another 30 minutes,” she decided to say.

“I was wondering if you wanted help,” he admitted sheepishly.

Anne rolled her eyes, still keeping her gaze away from his face. “Thanks, but I’m good.”

Out of the corner of her eye she saw his jaw clench and she couldn’t help but feel guilty. She admitted she may have overreacted at least a little by completely ignoring him the past few days, but truthfully, she didn’t have it in her to confront him over what happened on Monday. She didn’t want to remember his hurtful words even if she was somewhat to blame for it.

“I want to talk, please,” he pleaded.

It was her turn to clench her jaw. “Can we do it later? I still have a bunch of stuff I need to cram in before the carnival opens.”

He looked crestfallen, but nodded. “Okay fine-“

“Great.”

And with that she trotted away from him, leaving him in the middle of the courtyard with a quite small, pitiful satisfaction in him that she at least finally spoke to him.

~•~•~

It’s been an hour since the campus carnival opened. Bright lights and piss drunk college students filled the atmosphere with a sort of liveliness that Anne couldn’t have thought up even with weeks of planning. She was almost shocked at its success and didn’t even let the idea that it was probably because of the free excuse for students to get wasted in public and not her carefully thought out carnival games that attracted them.

She was standing in front of the dunk tank, smiling proudly to herself until she saw Gilbert, so she opted to hide behind her friend’s water shooter booth that she forced them to run.

“And here’s a stuffed penguin for you!” Ruby said gleefully to the prizewinners before turning to glare at her friend who was crouching behind a giant teddy bear. “Get out of there!”

“No! What if he sees me?” Anne protested.

“Then you two can finally hash everything out and you can stop moping,” Diana chimed in.

Anne glared at her friends. “I have not been mopey. I just haven’t been in the mood to talk to him.”

“So you’re hiding in this booth at your own carnival to avoid talking to him just because ‘you’re not in the mood’?” Diana crossed her arms and quirked an eyebrow up.

“Yes,” Anne muttered. “Look, I’ll be gone in a few minutes just until I think the coast is clear.”

She never told any of her friends what happened. But when she came home that afternoon, puffy-eyed and ready to snap at Cole for no reason other than forgetting to buy milk, they had a small inkling she was upset. They comforted her throughout the week as good friends do. But by Thursday evening, they were sick of Anne’s stubborn refusal to talk to him when it was obvious by her frequent mentions of the raven haired man that she did miss him.

“Mhmm,” Ruby hummed, not believing a word. When she turned back a small smile played on her face as she glanced back at Anne.

“Ruby?” The sound of Gilbert’s voice nearly made Anne stumble. “Hey, do you happen to know where Anne is?”

Diana smirked and Ruby giggled manically, making Gilbert confused.

“So, no?” He sighed.

Anne sighed in relief thinking that meant he was going to leave now, but of course her friends had to ruin it.

“Actually I do,” Ruby said, and guessing by her tone Anne was sure she was obviously pointing her head towards where she was hiding.

By the small smile on Diana’s face through the corner of her eye, she could tell she was right.

“You know what? I’ll play,” Gilbert suddenly said a little too hopeful for her liking.

“Perfect!” Ruby squealed. “You know how to play, right?”

“Of course.” She didn’t even have to see him to know he had a smug smile on his face.

“Great, now begin!”

“Please fail, please fail,” Anne muttered pleadingly.

“Congratulations!” Ruby’s squeak of excitement brought Anne back to her unfortunate reality. 

Now it was Diana’s turn to ask, “And what prize do you want?”

Anne saw Diana look pointedly towards where she was hiding. She knew she couldn’t see her piercing glare as her heart thumped rapidly.

“I’ll take that pink bear.”

_ Of fucking course _ .

“Right on,” Ruby said a little too happily before taking the large pink bear, exposing a sheepish Anne to an amused Gilbert.

“And I’ll take the redhead too,” he pointed to Anne.

Ruby grinned between the two of them while Diana kept her distance, but was obviously hiding a laugh.

Anne, flushed with embarrassment and anger, sighed before turning to Gilbert, snatching the bear away from Ruby and walking out of the booth to stand in front of him, refusing to look up to meet his gaze. She was sure holding a giant, fluffy pink bear did nothing to support the angry mood she was in. 

“Hey,” he said quietly.

Even as the sun set and there was a piercing light over them, he still found himself missing getting lost in Anne’s eyes. He hadn’t seen them in days, and he felt like he was in a drought that only her ocean blue eyes could save him from. 

Her grip on the teddy bear tightened and Gilbert nearly grinned at how adorable she looked.

“Can we talk?” He snapped himself out of his daze to ask pleadingly.

Anne glanced wearily over at her friends, who were not so subtly eavesdropping, before turning back to him with a weak nod.

Gilbert smiled weakly.  _ At least that’s a start. _

After he bid a nod towards her grinning friends, they began walking down the lively carnival.

“I can hold that for you if you want,” Gilbert offered, nodding to the bear. “I mean, it is my prize after all.”

Anne didn’t say anything. Instead she hugged the bear closer to her chest like a pillow. She was so small and holding that bear basically hid her from everyone and she looked so damn cute he didn’t know why he was tempted to squeeze her in a massive hug.

They walked in silence for a while, Gilbert asking if she wanted to play the different games they passed by without a response. She just walked beside him, avoided his gaze, and hugged her teddy bear all the while blissfully ignoring him.

Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore, and he gripped her arm and tugged her over the ferris wheel, throwing random tickets to the man yelling at them to wait in line and gently pulling her (and the bear) into the passenger car, closing the door.

“Hey-“

“I’ll pay you 10 bucks if you make this go right now,” Gilbert bribed the ferris wheel conductor through the open window. He pretended to think about it before slyly taking the money from him and feigning sympathy for the people waiting in line.

Anne frowned when the ferris wheel started turning, holding the bear tighter to her. Gilbert leaned closer to her.

“Now can we talk? For real?” He pleaded.

“Fine,” Anne relented, finally looking at him. “What do you want?”

“To apologize,” he said quickly. She didn’t say anything nor did her expression change, so he took it as a cue to continue. “I’m so sorry I snapped at you. I’m so sorry I assumed those heartless things about you and made you cry. I’m so sorry I jumped to conclusions about you.” He paused momentarily, wondering if he should say the next part. “And I’m sorry for everything you went through,” he muttered softly.

She didn’t say anything, but her gaze did drop to the bear she was hugging like a security blanket. 

“I’m sorry for saying you were lucky,” she said softly.

Gilbert immediately shook his head, putting his hand on her elbow to make her look at him. “No no, don’t be sorry, please. I was the one at fault. I was the one who got angry and  _ hurt  _ you.”

“Yeah but that wouldn’t have happened if I just kept my mouth shut,” she protested.

“No, stop! You were  _ right.  _ I was lucky in a way. You said what I’ve been avoiding for years. I’m lucky that I found what I want to do with my life. Even if it wasn’t in the way I would’ve hoped, I still figured out my life from it and grew stronger. So no, don’t apologize, please. You did nothing wrong.”

Anne glanced up at him, her blue eyes big. “You didn’t deserve what happened to you.”

“Neither did you,” he replied softly. “I’m so sorry. Please, I’m so sorry. I’ll get on my knees and beg right now if that’s what you want.”

Anne stifled a laugh at the image of Gilbert on his knees, begging for her forgiveness. But she wouldn’t do that to him. She might have not known him for long, but she realized he only ever meant well. He would’ve never hurt her on purpose. 

“Don’t do that. Have some dignity,” she joked. A small smile broke out on his face and she weakly smiled back. “I know you didn’t have bad intentions.”

“None at all,” he said pleadingly.

She swallowed, “I’m sorry for ignoring you the past few days.”

“Stop apologizing,” he shook his head. 

“Just accept the apology Blythe,” Anne groaned.

Gilbert bit his bottom lip to hide a smile, but nodded in defeat. “Fine. Apology accepted.” He tried to lean over to touch the bear but Anne swatted his hand away. “Hey! It’s mine.”

“No, it’s mine now,” she pouted and dug her face into the bear.

“I won it.”

“I  _ want _ it,” she argued. “You know, good fake boyfriends would happily give the teddy bear to their fake girlfriend.”

He leaned back against the car, putting his arms around the bar and shaking his head at her. “Fair point. Fine you can have it.”

Anne smiled gleefully. “I accept your apology then.”

He frowned, “I thought you already accepted it.”

“Win me more prizes then I’ll think about it,” she said with a small, amused hum.

He chuckled,“I usually suck at these games, you're just going to be disappointed.”

“Then how’d you win this little guy right here?” Anne gestured to her bear.

Gilbert smirked, blushing, “Because as you recall, once I have a goal in mind, I’m very determined.”

“Well now you have another goal in mind,” Anne sat up straight. “Win me as many stuffed animals as you can or I’ll go back to hating you.”

He rolled his eyes, but reluctantly sighed. “Fine, fine.”

Anne cheered in victory, but when the cart rocked a bit she fumbled her hands a bit until they fell on Gilbert’s sturdy shoulders. Maybe it was the colorful lights playing tricks on him, but he swore he saw her blush a bit until she removed her arms to hug her bear again.

He didn’t think before pulling his phone out and focusing his camera on Anne.

“No no don’t, I look so bad,” she tried to protest.

Gilbert scoffed, “You never look bad.”

“Stop it, I’m serious,” she threatened half-emptily.

A click of his camera made Anne gasp. She moved her bear aside to try and reach over him to steal his phone. The seriousness Anne tried to feign went away when he started laughing, eventually making her laugh too until she gave up, moving back off him.

When the ferris wheel reached the bottom where they were supposed to get off, Gilbert helped Anne- and the bear- out, taking her hand in his. He intertwined their fingers and either she didn’t notice nor care as they walked like that back to the booths.

“You said you would win me more prizes,” Anne pouted, trying her best to give adorable puppy dog eyes so he wouldn’t argue.

He groaned in defeat, and eventually won her a small but adorable stuffed panda. And then a dolphin, an elephant, and begrudgingly a unicorn. As the night died down, Gilbert held the bear in his hand and wasn’t even embarrassed. When they departed and saw eyes on them, he kissed her tenderly, his lips lingering a beat too long. He knew Anne noticed too, but the small smile on her face before she walked away told him she didn’t mind.

Gilbert went back home with a grin on his face, and when he went through his camera roll that night, he didn’t think twice before setting the adorable photo of Anne holding the bear, her beauty unreal in the carnival lights, as his lock screen photo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is the earliest I’ve ever updated! Props for me! 
> 
> This chapter was mostly just angst and fluff because I feel those two encompass Anne and Gilbert’s relationship the most. Also I’ve been down the last few days and I needed something to make me happy lol.


	9. Only bought this dress so you could take it off

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW // explicit smut

It wasn’t a formal dinner party, but since it was hosted by their gracious boss, the least Anne wanted to do was make a good impression. She definitely wasn’t going to go all out because of Gilbert’s off-handed comment earlier that he found her sexy. So she put on her most formal dress- a fitted green cocktail one- and curled her hair to drape over her chest, but only for the sake of seeming more mature, not to tease a certain raven-haired boy.

Gilbert picked her up at night and she smirked at the weird, animalistic noise he made when he saw her in her dress.

When they arrived, the driveway was packed and he had to park a block away. Anne shivered against the cool wind and Gilbert glanced at her.

“Do you want my coat?” He offered.

Anne shook her head, “No it’s fine.”

“Oh come on you’re shivering,” he noted. “Isn’t this what good boyfriends do?”

She rolled her eyes, “We’re almost there anyways. Besides, I only shivered once. Won’t happen again.”

The goosebumps on her pale skin as another burst of wind hit them proved her otherwise. Wordlessly, Gilbert tugged his coat off and wrapped it around her shoulders, stopping to make sure it was secure around her. 

Anne frowned as she put on the coat, “I know how to put on a coat.”

“Just making sure,” he said absentmindedly. His breath hitched when his fingers brushed the vast expanse of exposed skin on her chest. Anne wanted to think she didn’t blush a bit at that, but the faint pink on her cheeks gave her away.

“So uh,” Gilbert cleared his throat and turned away to keep walking, “we eat, make an excuse that we have papers due, then leave right?”

Anne nodded, “We’re there for an hour and a half, tops.”

“And if we get held up we make up an excuse that you have a headache and we need to leave,” he noted.

It didn’t go over either of their heads that they sounded and looked like a middle aged married couple, but they decided to keep quiet about it.

When they arrived with a last minute toaster oven gift Anne and her roommates got for a housewarming party years ago, Anne was disarmed by the amount of people. Being surrounded by older people for the night who most likely recognize them from campus made her feel anxious.

Gilbert took the coat from Anne and she turned to him, distressed. “Can we leave a little early?”

Gilbert frowned. Anne tried not to take notice of how handsome he looked in a button-up that fit his muscles perfectly. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, “Yeah I just, didn’t think there’d be this many people here.”

He chuckled, amused, “Since when did big crowds scare you, Shirley?”

“Since I realized I don’t know anyone here and everyone’s going to be watching us because we’re the only people under 30 here,” she said quickly.

His smirk faltered and he nodded in understanding. “Okay yeah, sure. One hour then?”

She gave a small, thankful smile and turned back around. Gilbert put a hand on the small of her back as he led her to where Ms. Stacy was entertaining a few guests that Anne recognized as professors from other departments. When she saw them, she excused herself and approached the two with a big smile.

“I know this isn’t really your environment, but relax. No one is going to scrutinize you here. Take some food, have some drinks, socialize a bit.” She then looked around before leaning in to Gilbert. “I have an old friend, Dr. Emily Oaks, who has some ties with the University of Toronto School of Medicine. If you want I can introduce you.”

Gilbert’s eyes widened slightly as he stammered, “Uh yes, yes of course.”

Ms. Stacy smiled, “Great, just follow me. She should be around here somewhere.”

Before he could follow her, he asked her to wait a minute before pulling Anne aside.

Gilbert looked down at her with a hopeful expression, “Can we go back to an hour and a half?”

Anne pouted, “But-“

“I’ll make it up to you,” he insisted. “Please?”

She saw the hopeful glint in his eyes and sighed, knowing this was a big opportunity for him and saying no would seem selfish. So with a small, sad smile, she nodded.

He grinned. “You’re the best,” he said and pecked her cheek, winking before going to find Ms. Stacy again.

Now Anne was alone in a room with people she’d never seen in her life besides the university’s website admin page. She planned to tease Gilbert all night for no other reason than she was bored. 

_ “Can you believe we slept together? We’re like friends with no benefits because our lives suck and we’re not even having sex,” Anne said bitterly as they went over the lesson plan for the day. _

_ Gilbert blushed, “Do you wanna have sex with me, Shirley?” _

_ She rolled her eyes, “I already did.” _

_ “Would you do it again?” He leaned over, suddenly very interested in her response. _

_ She pondered before shrugging, “Why not? You?” _

_ He shrugged too, “Yeah. I liked it.” _

_ “Aww, do you think I’m sexy?” She teased. _

_ Gilbert nodded, not phased at all. “Yeah.” _

_ Anne opened her mouth to retort something back, but the total nonchalance of his reply caught Anne off guard. She glanced down back at her book and he glanced up at her, smirking to himself. _

A server came by with a glass of champagne and Anne politely accepted, needing something to get her through this next hour and a half. She spent a good 20 minutes or so wandering the house and admiring the outdoor aesthetic of the house. She couldn’t help but smile at the various plants hanging in the sunroom and the small wooden tables and stools with faux fur laid around it.

She was too busy gaping in awe at the room to realize she nearly bumped into somebody. 

“Oh I’m so sorry,” Anne quickly apologized as she tried to gather her footing. She would’ve fallen if the man hadn’t held his arms on her waist and she hadn't gripped his arms.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” he smiled politely.

“No I should’ve watched where I was going-“

“Wait, Anne?”

Anne finally glanced up at the man and was shocked.

“Fred?” She asked with a sense of familiarity and a small smile. “Oh my God, hi!”

She pulled him in for a small hug before they pulled away, equal smiles on their faces.

“What are you doing here?” He asked.

“Uh, I’m a T.A. for Ms. Stacy,” she explained.

“Ah,” he said with a hint of amusement. “Following in my footsteps? I always knew you admired me.”

Anne rolled her eyes playfully, “I will admit you did influence me.”

He grinned, “I can't say I’m surprised, honestly. I had an inkling you’ve always wanted to be a teacher. Sometimes you would take over the class instead.”

They laughed as they sat down in the sunroom to catch up. Fred Wright was the T.A. when Anne took the class, and just like Ms. Stacy, she saw a kindred spirit in him. He wasn’t a friend that she talked to everyday, but when they did talk or their paths crossed they would spend hours deep in conversation. He was like a big brother and mentor to her.

“So, how are you?” He asked as he took a sip from his drink.

Anne exhaled, slouching on the couch, “Fine.”

Free cocked an eyebrow at her, “Come on, am I supposed to believe that now?”

She chuckled, “I’m serious, I’m good. Nothing’s really happening right now except for some small thing but it doesn’t matter,” she waved off.

“Well if it’s bothering you of course it matters,” he said in a concerned tone. “What happened?”

Anne smirked, “Honestly, I don’t want to talk about it. It’s….crazy.”

“It wouldn’t have anything to do with you and a certain football player, would it?” He asked curiously.

Anne’s face fell. “You heard about that?” She mentally cursed herself when she remembered Fred had a younger brother who’s attending Queens too. 

Fred shrugged and sighed, “Yeah. And hey, I’m sorry about that. It’s fucked up.”

She bit the inside of her cheek and downed the rest of her glass, wincing. Fred raised his eyebrows at her.

“And I’m sorry for bringing it up-“

“No no, it's fine. Really,” she insisted. “I mean, it’s really not fine. It sucks. I don’t really want the whole campus to know about my sex life let alone be interested in it, but you know, what can you do?” She glanced at his half-full glass. “Are you gonna drink that?”

“What? This-“ He didn’t finish before Anne took it and tried downing it before he took it back, looking at her sternly. “Are you driving home?”

She scoffed, “No. A certain football player is here with me. He’s my boyfriend.”

Fred’s eyebrows furrowed, “You guys are together?” She nodded and he clicked his tongue. “Be careful Anne. I heard some of the stuff they’re saying about you and I don’t want you to get-“

“Anne? Anne, hey,” Gilbert said as he walked in the room and saw a tipsy Anne slouched on the couch. 

Anne giggled, nudging Fred’s arm, “Look, it’s my date.”

Fred cocked an eyebrow at Gilbert, who was staring down at him like he was about to beat him up.

“Who are you?” Gilbert asked threateningly.

Fred stood up, cleared his throat, and held a hand out. “Fred Wright.”

Gilbert glanced at his hand and back at him. He then turned to Anne, who had a blissful smile on her face.

“Is he harassing you?” He clenched his jaw.

Anne scoffed, “Of course not. If he was harassing me I would tell you that he is harassing me.”

“Um, Anne and I are old friends,” Fred clarified with an awkward laugh.

Gilbert still wasn’t convinced. Ever since every guy on campus had taken a newfound interest in Anne, he couldn’t help but feel protective of her whenever a guy was around her. He knew college guys, he knew how they acted drunk or sober around girls. He didn’t want Anne to be on the other end of their sticks when they did.

“Relax Gilbert,” Anne said a little too loudly. “Fred’s like a brother. It’s okay.”

The tension in Gilbert’s shoulders visibly fell and he felt relieved. Fred was still eyeing Gilbert weirdly as he moved around him to attend to Anne.

“It’s been an hour and a half,” he said softly as he bent down to grab her hands. “Do you wanna say bye to Ms. Stacy and leave?”

Anne nodded like a small toddler and Gilbert couldn’t help but smile, helping her off the couch and resting his hand on her waist to keep her balance.

“Bye Fred!” She exclaimed a bit loudly. “We should meet up sometimes.”

Fred chuckled, “Of course, of course. Actually, Anne, can I steal your date for a minute?”

She pouted, looking up at Gilbert, “But-“

“We should really get going.”

“It’ll only take a minute,” Fred insisted as he gripped Gilbert’s arm to pull him to the hallway, leaving Anne pouting in the sunroom.

Gilbert smiles politely, “Hey man I’m sorry I insinuated anything-“

“It’s fine, I would’ve done the same,” Fred brushed it off. “Look, I have a brother who goes to Queens. I heard what’s going with you two.” Gilbert’s face grew stern as Fred’s angry. “You better not fuck around with her. She’s been through a lot in her life and the last thing she needs is some guy ruining her life before it even begins.”

Gilbert clenched his jaw, “I’m not using her like some doll that I’m going to throw away. I care about her, I really do. Whatever rumors you heard, they aren't real. I would never intentionally hurt her.”

“Do you love her?” Fred asked.

Gilbert felt his throat dry up. “Wh-what?”

“I asked if you love her,” Fred repeated impatiently.

He swallowed before muttering a small “yeah” before even thinking. He didn’t even realize what he’d said until he saw Fred’s face soften only a little bit.

“Good. Now don’t mess it up with her. If you hurt her, not only will I personally hunt you down, but Anne will make you regret the day you were born.”

“I don’t doubt that,” he said awkwardly.

Fred nodded, gripping his shoulder firmly before going back to say goodbye to Anne and walking away with a stern glance at Gilbert. Suddenly the room felt very hot and Gilbert quickly grabbed Anne, who was staring at the plants like a little kid at an aquarium. 

“Hey,” he gently cupped her face to make her look at him. She smiled softly and he couldn’t help but feel his chest warm. “How much did you drink?”

She shrugged, bouncing on her heels. “Not a lot. A glass. And then his glass.”

Gilbert sighed and moved so he could lead Anne to the kitchen. He got a water bottle and handed it to her but she just frowned and gave it back.

“You have to drink it. I don’t want to bring you home all tipsy and have your friends hate me,” Gilbert insisted.

She stubbornly shook her head. He mentally groaned before opening the water bottle himself and putting it to her lips to force her to drink it. She muttered in protest as he held it to her lips but stopped when the water trickled into her mouth. Her eyes mindlessly caught his as she drank the bottle.

“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath and tore the water bottle away from her lips when he realized the innuendo. 

“Can we go now?” Anne whined.

He sighed in exasperation and led her out of the kitchen with his hand on her back and the water bottle on the other hand to the front of the house. Anne just looked at him in a blissfully unaware daze and he sighed, putting his coat around Anne.

“Leaving so soon?” Ms. Stacy asked sadly as she approached them..

He stammered, “Yes, I’m sorry. Anne has a bad headache and doesn’t feel well. But this party was lovely, we had a great time.”

Ms. Stacy glanced around Anne and back to Gilbert suspiciously, but decided not to comment. “It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll see you two on Monday. Anne, I hope you feel better,” she said sincerely before they said their goodbyes and the two walked out of the house.

Anne tugged the coat around her tighter as the chill blew in. Gilbert hovered over her and situated his hands on her body gently to make sure she didn’t trip.

“I know how to walk,” she grumbled bitterly.

“I know that but I don’t want you to fall,” he said.

She frowned, “How was talking to Dr. Woods?”

He glanced down at her, amusement etched in his face. “You mean Dr. Oaks?”

“I knew it was something nature related.”

Gilbert let out a low chuckle as he guided her the rest of their way to his car in silence besides the small humming she did. The humming continued as he drove to her place, chuckling to himself at the familiarity of the situation from the party last week.

When they arrived, Gilbert insisted on escorting her back up, fearing the worst that could happen to her. He momentarily forgot what he said earlier that night, how he easily said he loved her. It scared him, but he tried to shake it out from his head as they approached her apartment door.

“I can’t wait to get out of this god awful dress,” Anne groaned.

Gilbert couldn’t help but grin at her. “I think you looked nice.”

She smirked, “I know. I only wore this dress for you anyways.”

He blinked, “Wh-what?”

“You said I was sexy. So I put on the sexiest dress I could find to tease you,” Anne admitted nonchalantly.

Gilbert didn’t know what to say. He just gaped at Anne, who was humming to herself as she searched her purse for her keys. When she opened the door, she turned back to him.

“Everyone’s gone for drinks, if you want to come inside,” Anne offered.

He wanted to say no, but when she did those unintentional, big puppy eyes, he knew he could never say no to her. So with a reluctant sigh, he shrugged and followed her as she grinned.

“I’m going to go change. You can stay in the living room,” she noted before going into her room.

Gilbert fell on the couch and called out, “So, did you have fun?”

She gave a loud, frustrated sigh, “I guess. Fred made it better.”

He pursed his lips at the mention of the name. “So how do you guys know each other?”

“He was the TA when I took Ms. Stacy’s class,” Anne said.

He nodded, “Cool. Uh, do you feel any less tipsy?”

He could practically hear her roll her eyes, “I didn’t even drink that much and I don’t feel anything, so I’m sober I guess,” she said through huffs and groans until Gilbert heard the bedroom door open and her voice was clearer. “Can you help me?” She asked.

“But I’m so comfortable here.”

“Please?” She pleaded with a small whine.

He groaned and shot up from the couch, walking lazily over to her room but stopping in his tracks when he saw Anne struggling to reach behind and tug the zipper off. Her eyes brightened when she saw him and she walked over, turning her back and collecting her hair to one side.

“Can you unzip it for me?” She asked.

Gilbert couldn’t say how her pale, soft skin, that he could still feel in his fingers from weeks ago, in front of him affected him. So with a gulp, his shaky hands gripped her zipper and pulled it down slowly. He bit back a gasp when he realized Anne wasn’t wearing a bra. When he was done, he exhaled and Anne gave a small gasp when his breath hit her skin, causing goosebumps on the back of her neck.

She turned to him, holding the dress on her chest and their eyes met. Those blue eyes Gilbert loved so much. Those hazel eyes Anne couldn’t help but get lost in. He stared down at her with a dark expression when he glanced and saw her holding her dress around her breasts. His Adam apple bobbed and Anne stepped closer to him.

Without thinking, without even processing what was happening and what the consequences of her next action might be, Anne dropped her arms from her chest and let the dress pool around her feet.

Gilbert gaped, “What are you-“

Before he could finish, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a searing kiss.

It had the same fire as their first kiss, but there was a new emotion in it too. Passion? Lust? Long, pent up tension? She didn’t know nor care, all she cared was that Gilbert didn’t pull back and instead wrapped his arms around her bare waist and pulled her in.

She could taste the faint smell of his cologne, he could taste her peach lip gloss. They were both intoxicating the other, and it felt like hours until they finally pulled apart. Anne’s hands traveled over his broad chest and went to work on undoing the buttons, but his hands caught her small ones and they panted to catch their breath as their eyes met.

Lost in the ocean blue of her eyes, Gilbert had no idea how he managed to ask if this was okay. But it was the fight of her wrists from his grasp that pulled him out from his daze.

“Yes this is okay,” she said impatiently 

“Are you sure?”

“ _ Yes _ .”

“Got tested a few months ago and I’m clean, and I’ve had no partners since you,” he said quickly.

Anne cocked an eyebrow up at him. “The doctor in you is really showing.”

“Shut up,” he growled.

She unwillingly clenched her thighs at the deep growl of his voice. “I’m on the pill, I have condoms, I haven’t been tested in a while but you were the only partner since then.”

Gilbert nodded, “Okay, okay so we’re doing this,” he said mostly to convince myself. “But you’re  _ sure?” _

She rolled her eyes, “Didn’t I tell you I only wore this dress for you?”

“To  _ tease  _ me. Did you even expect the night to go like this?” He asked worriedly.

“No, but I have no complaints. Do you?”

Gilbert opened his mouth but closed it, shaking his head.

”It’s not like we haven’t done this before,” Anne smirked before gesturing to her wrists for him to let go, and when he did she immediately went to unbutton his shirt, tearing the last few buttons off and showing his toned chest. He tore it off and threw it carelessly on the floor, not letting Anne marvel in his toned chest and abs before taking her by the back of her head and crashing their lips together. Her hands cooked up to his curls with a harsh tug.

His other hand trailed down to her ass and cupped it, making her squirm. She arched her back against him and pushed her breasts against his chest, opening her mouth up for their tongues to meet in a messy kiss.

That must’ve been the catalyst for Gilbert, because suddenly he picked her up off the floor and plopped her down on her bed before hovering over her, taking in the sight of her laid out under him. Plump lips, flushed cheeks, princess red curls, plump breasts spilling over her, lace black panties taunting him. But what really sent him over were the freckles that he remembered dotting all over the expanse of her chest and how bad he wanted to lavish each and everyone that night. Her big, blue eyes staring pleadingly at him didn’t do much to help, and he found himself leaning down to gently kiss her. 

“You okay?” He, for some reason, found himself asking.

“Yes,” she replied when he moved his lips down to her neck. One side of her head fell on the bed as he lavished the long column of her neck.

He wasn’t sure if it was inappropriate to mark her, but given the quite scandalous position they were in, he thought she probably wouldn't mind much. And she didn’t, at all. In fact, each time he bit her skin she’d let out a soft gasp that Gilbert’s ears happened to mistake as music. 

When he moved down to her breasts, he alternated between kissing and sucking them before moving to her nipples, lavishing them with his tongue until they were hard, then plucking them.

“Oh,” Anne blushed furiously when his other hand groped the neglected breast. She arched her back into him and ran her hands down his well-defined back as he spent his time on her breasts then down to her waist. He gripped her waist with his big hands as he kissed down her.

“You’re so fucking gorgeous,” he muttered against her skin. “So fucking gorgeous.”

His mouth moved to the hem of her panties and he caught her eye as she sat herself up on her elbows, breathing heavily.

“Is this okay?” He asked, skimming his fingers over her hips.

“I don’t remember you being so careful the first time we did this,” she remarked.

“Shut up.”

“Make me.”

He didn’t waste time in throwing her panties off her hips and moving to kiss the patch of red hair at her apex, indeed shutting her up.

She watched him move his lips down to the inside of her thigh. He trailed electrifying kisses down to her knee before tracing them back up with his tongue. She thrusted her hips into him when he hovered just above her core and breathed heavily on her.

“Oh God,” she groaned. “Gilbert please.”

He cocked an eyebrow up and moved away to look at her. “You know, I think that’s the first time you’ve ever regarded me by my actual name.”

She frowned, “Can you go back to what you were doing?”

Gilbert smirked at her.

“Please?” She said softly.

He cursed under his breath. She was so small under him that he couldn’t ever disregard her, so he caught her eye as he leaned down to lick a stripe on her cunt. Anne gasped and tugged her hands on his curls. Motivated by her reactions, he licked her again, digging his nose into her and inhaling her scent. Gilbert rubbed her clit.

“Fuck,” he groaned when he licked her folds. His tongue trailed down to her entrance but pulled away, rubbing her folds.

Anne whimpered, “Fuck.”

His fingers circled her entrance before sliding a finger in, making her gasp. His mouth went back to her folds as he tested her entrance. A second finger was added, and he finally started pumping into her and she withered.

“Gilbert,” she moaned when his fingers curled.

Gilbert licked up to her clit and his other hand reached out to her waist, making her stay down as she moved under him. He kissed her clit and his fingers scissored in her. He smirked against her when he felt her get wetter on his face and fingers. Soon he slid in a third finger, and Anne cried out as he pumped into her faster.

He moved his lips away to rest his chin on her patch of hair and watch her. Her eyes were closed and her head was thrown back as she tugged harder on his hair with every hard thrust into her. He knew he finally hit  _ that  _ spot when her legs started withering. He kept his fingers focused on that spot and thrusting into her even harder and faster as he watched her.

She let out incoherent moans but he heard occasional cries of his name on her tongue. Her skin was flushed as she started shaking under him. Her legs and body shook as he saw how much she was losing it, determined to make her come. Gilbert wondered if it was wrong to think how ethereal she looked. Her plump breasts jiggled as she shook violently, and she closed her eyes as she furrowed her eyebrows at the feeling. Unable to resist, he leaned up to capture her lips, swallowing her surprised yelp, as he continued pounding his fingers into her. She cried softly against his lips when he pulled back to watch her.

The glow on her skin and cry she made when her orgasm hit her made his breath hitch. He fingered her through her orgasm as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him to her as she came violently on his hand. Soon, he pulled out to cup her cunt harshly, and she finished into his hand, breathing heavily and muttering against his shoulder. He leaned down to kiss the column of her neck as his hand smoother over her body to grip her breasts, his fingers still wet. When he trailed his fingers up to his mouth, he caught her eye as he sucked them off one by one. She swallowed before capturing his lips in a kiss. 

“Are you okay?” He asked again as he pulled away, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

She smiled lazily, “Yeah.”

“You came pretty hard,” he couldn’t help but note.

Anne blushed, “Your fingers are magic.”

They chuckled before absentmindedly kissing each other again. His hands traveled down her body like she was a statue as her nails raked down his back and to his front, making him groan. When her dainty fingers met the top of his pants, he captured them before pulling away.

“Again-“

“Gilbert.” She said sternly before pushing him off so she was straddling him, gloriously naked and gorgeous on top of him. “This isn’t anything we haven’t done before. It’s okay.”

She leaned down to kiss down his chest as his hands gripped her waist, digging his fingers into her as her lips traveled down. She reached his pants and quickly unzipped down, tugging them over his hips and palming his half hard erection through his boxer briefs. He groaned and arched his hips into her bare core, making her gasp.

“Do you have condoms?” He asked breathily.

She grinned and leaned over to her nightstand drawer and pulled out a sleeve of condoms. Gilbert sat up to catch her in a surprising kiss as he situated himself so she was straddling his lap. He took the condoms from her and moved so he could throw his underwear mindlessly on the floor. She wrapped her small hands around his cock to get him hard, and Gilbert dropped his head to her shoulder, moaning as he peppered kisses. 

Anne vaguely remembered seeing his cock for the first time and being completely put off by how big and thick he was. It wasn’t any different at that moment. She was way shorter than him and was aware how petite her body was compared to his. When they first did it, she felt a twinge of pain that bordered more the line of uncomfortable until it went away just as fast as it came. But since she was still wet and needy from her orgasm just moments ago, she thought it would be okay.

When he was hard enough, he took a condom out and put it over him. He gripped Anne’s waist to bring her over it. They caught their eyes as he looked up at her, his eyes dark with desire with a small hint of awe.

He opened his mouth and she automatically groaned. “Gilbert I swear if you ask me if this is okay one more time-“

She was cut off when he pulled her down balls deep over his cock, making her moan at the feel of his hard cock in her and making him groan at her warm, wet walls clenching him as she tried to situate herself. His arms caressed her skin and hair as she started moving, trying to find a rhythm.

“Oh fuck,” he groaned when she started bouncing on him. She arched her back against him and he captured her breast in his mouth as his hips started meeting her rhythm.

Anne tightened her grip on his shoulders as they started panting against each other. He rested his head on her chest as they bounced against him. His hands wrapped tightly around her back as he moved his head up to kiss her. The sound of skin slapping against each other and their moans filled the silent room. Gilbert thrusted harder into her and she whimpered, dropping her head to his shoulder. He gripped her tighter as he kept moving into her.

“You’re so wet and beautiful,” he murmured into her ear, kissing her hair. “Are you okay?” She let out a high-pitched moan in response. “You’re doing great. You’re so tight and wet.”

“Gilbert,” she moaned into his shoulder.

The moan of his name made his face darken, and she cried out as he thrusted harder and faster until Anne couldn’t catch up anymore and she relinquished the control to Gilbert. Little ‘uh’ noises fell out from her mouth and filled his ears like music. He moved to kiss her- which was hard to do with every moan and whimper that fell out her lips- as her body started to shake uncontrollably.

“Gilbert I’m-I’m gonna come,” she cried breathily against his lips as she rested her forehead against his. 

He opened his eyes to look up at her, “It’s okay, it’s okay,” and dug a hand between them to rub her sensitive clit.

Anne cried his name out as she fell limp against him, the tension in her cunt snapping and filled her whole body. She shook uncontrollably and sobbed as he fucked her through the orgasm that was tearing through her. He was close, and the clench of her sensitive walls on his hard cock was the final straw. He babbled a bit about her wet and good she felt as he pumped into her a couple more times until he came. His hands gripped her body down on him as he came and she sobbed into his shoulder. His cock spurted into her as they fell against each other, breathing heavily as sweat poured down their skin.

Anne twirled her hips, milking him as they came down. Gilbert gripped the back of her head as he pulled her to him for an insistent kiss. His hands traveled down her skin and resting her ass, slapping it gently enough so she yelped.

“You’re evil,” she said breathlessly as she pulled away. Her chest heaved as she panted and Gilbert couldn’t help but kiss her breasts and cherish them. She tugged uselessly on his curls as she felt his cock soften up, pulling up out of him and making them both groan at the loss. She fell on the bed next to him and he fell back on the next to her with his hands clasped behind his head.

“Wow,” she said in awe.

“Wow,” he repeated.

The realization of what they just did hit them like a train, and they stared up at the ceiling in silence for what felt like hours.

“So,” he started.

“So,” she repeated.

“We just did that.”

She nodded, “Yeah.”

They fell silent again, the only sound being the heavy breaths from the other.

“Do you wanna do it again?” He suggested.

Anne shrugged, “Sure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys will forgive the smut frenzy I’ve been on lately.
> 
> Did I bring in Fred just to fuel a slightly jealous Gilbert? Yes. Will I bring him back? Who knows?
> 
> Please leave a comment and kudos thank you!


	10. Gold cage, hostage to my feelings

Gilbert accidentally stayed the night, and when Diana barged in the room and hit them with pillows to wake them up, she didn’t even give him a second glance but smirked at Anne before walking out.

They laid next to each other on the bed and stared up at the ceiling fan as it spun around. The sunlight was peeking through her closed blinds, giving her room a soft hue in contrast to the tension between the two college students.

Gilbert was laying with his hands locked behind his head, still naked under the quilted blanket. He glanced down to the side of her bed where he threw her many throw pillows in a hasty, dazed effort to make more space for them both. Anne had her hands resting on top of her blanket covered chest, occasionally flickering glances over to him. It was truly a crime how attractive he looked under the faint sunlight. Anne swore his chest wasn’t that muscular in the fluorescent light the previous night.

Soon, she cleared her throat as she fumbled with the blanket over her. Gilbert glanced over at her and opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

“So,” Anne started, still not looking at him.

Gilbert gulped, “So.”

“Do you wanna talk about it?” She suggested but winced the moment it left her mouth. In truth, she didn’t want to talk about it at all, but thought it was the least she could do.

He shrugged, feigning nonchalance to mask the screaming  _ Yes!  _ in his head. “Do you?”

_ No please _ . “Um…”

“We-we don't have to-“

“Yeah.”

“I mean unless, you think we should?” He offered, knowing full well he was digging his grave.

Anne turned back to the ceiling as she bit her inner cheeks before admitting, “I don’t really know what to say.”

Gilbert bit his bottom lip, “Neither do I.”

“So I guess we don’t have to talk about it?”

He mindlessly chuckled, the low, husky vibrato doing nothing to ease the soreness in Anne’s lower area.

“What?” She asked tiredly.

He shook his head, “Nothing. I just...remembered why I hate one-night stands.”

She shot up to sit, snapped her neck to him and gaped, “Excuse me? Did you just imply I’m the reason you remembered something that you  _ hate _ ?”

Gilbert turned to look up at her and his smile traded for a confused expression. “What? No! No, God, you-you were um, great,” he stammered. “No okay so, I don’t  _ hate  _ the one night stand, per se. I just meant I hate the morning after the one night stands. You were great, like really great.”

The tension in Anne visibly slipped away by her slouch. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” he trailed.

They sat in awkward silence for a couple more minutes until the call of their names from Cole in the kitchen startled them. Anne stole the blanket to wrap around her body as she got out of bed, leaving Gilbert naked and whiney at the loss.

“Hey!” He exclaimed. “It’s chilly in here.”

Anne rolled her eyes as she retreated to the bathroom. “Put on some clothes then,” she called back.

“Have you seen my shirt?” He called as Anne wet her toothbrush.

She groaned, “It’s probably in the hallway.”

“The hall- oh.”

As Gilbert retraced their steps from the night before, he could recall that, indeed, his shirt and her dress were lying in her hallway, probably giving her friends something to gawk and tease them about.

He appeared in her bathroom doorway in his pants and Anne had to force her eyes away from his reflection in the bathroom mirror.

“Um, do you want me to just leave?” He asked awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck.

_ Yes, go home. I’m begging.  _ Anne just shrugged as she brushed her teeth. 

He clicked his tongue and sighed, “How about this? I won't leave until we talk about it.”

Anne spit in the sink before twirling to face him, clutching the blanket tighter around her body. “I thought we said we didn’t have to?”

“No, you just assumed we wouldn’t because there’s nothing to say,” he noted as he stepped in the bathroom and made his way to Anne, towering over her and making her feel small under his gaze.

“What am I supposed to say? It was a mistake? I was drunk? I was barely tipsy and you were fully sober and looking all,” her hands gestured vaguely to his chest, “ _ that.  _ There’s no excuse for why we did it.”

“I mean, why'd we do it the first time?”

“Because I was bored and thought you were hot and you were bored and thought I was hot.”

“Who’s to say that doesn’t apply now?”

Anne groaned. She grimaced and dug through her drawers for an extra toothbrush before tossing it to him and spitting in the sink. “Brush your teeth, you smell like shit.”

Gilbert cupped his hand over his mouth and brought it to his nose and grimaced. “I’m serious,” he said as he started to brush his teeth. She tried to step away but Gilbert caged her between his arms resting on the bathroom counter. She raised an eyebrow at him challengingly but he didn’t falter.

“Why do you even care so much?” She crossed her arms over her chest.

_ Because I’ve been having really conflicting feelings about you lately and I need to figure out what’s going on _ . “I don’t know.”

She rolled her eyes, “Okay fine, what do you want?”

_ You, for some weird fucking reason _ . “I don’t know.”

Anne bit her bottom lip but released it as quickly as she had done it when she saw Gilbert’s gaze flicker to her lips.

“Is it really so bad that we did it again?” Anne asked quietly, her gaze everywhere but Gilbert’s eyes.

Gilbert tiredly rubbed his hands over his face. “I don’t know,” he mumbled. “It just...complicates things further, you know? And I think the last thing we need is more complications.”

She nodded in understanding, “I get it. But...how about we uncomplicate it? Why don’t we make it like a regular thing?”

He furrowed his eyebrows, “What?”

“You know...like a casual, regular thing between us. So it won’t be awkward and we have one less drama in our lives,” she shrugged.

Gilbert blinked, “Are you suggesting…”

“Okay okay,” Anne started, waving her hands to shut him up. “Hear me out, a casual thing. Okay, we’ve already established we’re both attracted to each other- some more than others.” She gave a knowing glance to Gilbert who scoffed. “And you know, it’s not like we were getting any anyways.”

He gaped at her, “This isn’t healthy.”

“Come on, it’s sex between two adults with no strings attached. What’s so unhealthy about that?”

“Everything you just said.”

She rolled her eyes, “Look at it this way- we’ll finally be friends with benefits...with  _ actual  _ benefits!” She tried to say cheerily.

“That’s not a good idea,” he quickly said, but cleared his throat when he saw Anne quirk an eyebrow. 

“Look me in the eye and tell me you aren’t considering it.” She tapped his chin to make him look in her eyes.

He couldn’t think straight when he looked into her big ocean blue eyes. His mind turned to goo and his body felt disattached from his head. She had to know the effect her orbs had on him, she had to know he could never say no to her, especially when he was staring into her eyes.

“Maybe,” Gilbert muttered absentmindedly. 

Anne gave a small smile in satisfaction, the sparkle in her eye making Gilbert feel warm in his chest.

“Okay,” she nodded.

He gulped, “Okay. You don’t mean now, right?”

“Of course not! Everyone is in the kitchen and they would most definitely hear us.”

“Yeah, you were pretty loud last night.” She smacked his arm.

“That’s brave coming for you,” she scoffed.

“I wasn’t that loud,” he waved off. She gave him a knowing look and his smug look fell. “Wait really?”

Anne bit her bottom lip to hold back a grin. ”You were fairly loud.” He groaned in embarrassment, “Hey it’s a good thing! Really keeps a girl’s self esteem up,” she joked and giggles when Gilbert couldn’t help but smirk. “Um, hey so I was going to ask you last night but you know,” she blushed. “Next week there’s this ball at Diana’s great aunt’s mansion. Do you want to come with me?

His eyebrows shot up in surprised, “Well-“

“Only if you want. I’d understand if you don’t want to,” she chuckled dryly.

Gilbert shook his head with a smile, and Anne nearly fainted when she noticed dimples from when he smiled.  _ How did I never notice this? And how does he somehow look more attractive? _

“Yeah, why not?” He shrugged. “Seems fun. Wait, how formally do I have to dress up?”

“Well I have to wear a floor-length dress so I expect you to wear a suit at the very least.”

He grimaced, “I don’t look too good in a suit.”

Anne scoffed, “I doubt that. That’s impossible.”

“You’re going to eat your words Shirley.” They chuckled.

“Or maybe I’ll just jump your bones,” she added nonchalantly and soon the tension was back. He stared into her eyes and could hear the way her breath hitched. His flickered gaze to her lips didn’t go unnoticed by Anne. She cleared her throat and he backed away, 

“Well we should get clothed,” she stated. “Your shirt is somewhere in the hallway if it isn’t already stolen by Cole, but I can sneak into his room and steal something if you want?”

“No it’s okay, I’ll just pray it’s where we left it,” he said and exited the bathroom, but not without hesitantly leaning down to kiss Anne, swallowing down her yelp of surprise.

She smiled dopily when he pulled back, muttering, “What brought this on?”

Gilbert shrugged, “Practice.”

She rolled her eyes playfully, placing a hand over his heart before standing on her toes to peck him again, “Well I could get used to this.”

The soft kiss soon turned heated and Gilbert wanted to blame it on the fact that they were not fully clothed yet. But knowing full well that their title was established, he planned on taking advantage of it for as long as was consensually okay between the two of them.

Gilbert wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in, leveling his head down to kiss her thoroughly. He picked her up and sat her on the bathroom counter, pushing all beauty products to the side and if Anne cared she didn’t say anything. She dropped the blanket wrapped around her body from her chest and dug her hands into his curls as his hands trailed up her waist to her bare breasts. 

He pushed her legs open so he could stand between and pulled her bare core flush against his growing member, making them both groan.

“Condom?” Gilbert pulled back slightly to ask.

Anne fumbled slightly with the drawer, still trying to keep their lips together, before digging her hands through it and successfully pulling a condom. Gilbert took it from her hand and quickly pulled down his pants and underwear in one go. Their kiss turned sloppy when Anne’s dainty hands slid between them to rub his member and he groaned huskily into her mouth. One of his hands went to rub her core to prepare her and she whined.

“Are you sure about this?” Gilbert breathlessly asked when he coated Anne’s core in her own wetness to satisfaction and he himself was hard enough.

Anne nodded furiously, “Yes yes, God yes.”

“After last night I don’t want-“

“Last night was the best sex I’ve had in my entire life and I don’t mind recreating a small portion of that,” Anne explained quickly. She snatched the condom from him and rolled it on his cock. She scooted forward on the counter until her core aligned with him before looking up at him desperately.

He gulped at her steely blue eyes, “I just meant I don’t want you to get hurt,” he admitted sheepishly. “You could barely walk this morning.”

She rolled her eyes, “That’s a good thing. Look save the talking for later and fuck me  _ now  _ or I’ll start without you.”

“And you said you didn’t want to-“

“Opinions can change, Gilbert. Are you going to do me right here right now or am I just going to have to pleasure myself?” She asked defiantly.

Gilbert cursed under his breath before gripping Anne’s hips and slowly pushing himself in. They both groaned as her walls clenched to fit him. He captured her lips in a searing kiss as he pulled out again only to thrust in harder, feeling the breath of her moan against his flushed skin.

He started moving and Anne grabbed his shoulders for dear life. Her head tilted back in ecstasy and Gilbert placed a hand on her back to steady her as he leaned down to capture a breast in his mouth, making her keen softly.

“Your friends are just down the hall, do you think you can be quiet?” Gilbert asked quietly and glanced up to see her bit her bottom lip in agony. He tugged on her nipples with his teeth and her back arched. “I said, can you be quiet Anne?”

Anne nodded desperately. “Y-yes.”

He grinned wickedly. His body caged hers on the bathroom counter. Anne’s legs were dangling like noodles over the edge of the counter as Gilbert pounded into her. He quickly realized from their two nights together that she liked it when he took charge, whether she realized it or not. She tried to match her hips to his rhythm but had to bite down on her hand in agony to hold back a moan.

Gilbert nuzzled into her neck, panting heavily against her skin as his pace and the sound of skin slapping against skin increased. He glanced and saw himself in the mirror, dainty hands tugging on his curls, big, tan hands clenching and contrasting the pale, freckled back of Anne. He desperately pulled on her hair and she moaned loudly. Gilbert snapped out of his daze to pull back, stopping his movements and making Anne gape.

“What-“

“I told you to be quiet,” he said huskily.

Anne whined, “But-“

He put a finger over her mouth, kissing her before sliding back into her, swallowing back her surprised moan. “This ought to shut you up,” he murmured.

The pace and force of his thrusts increased and Anne fell limp against him, giving over all control to the man who was making her see stars. Her head fell on his shoulders and she bit down to hold back a cry. Gilbert glanced back at the mirror and swore the sight could be a Renaissance painting. A new sense of dominance washed over him and he quickly pulled out, carrying Anne’s body down, turning her over so she bent over the counter, and pushing back into her before she could complain.

She clasped her hands over her mouth before a desperate moan fell from her lips at the new angle. Her upper thighs burned as he pounded into her and pushed her against the hard counter, but it was nothing compared to the absolute oblivion she was in. His hands trailed down from the base of her spine to her ass, cupping them before trailing back up and tugging on her hair.

Anne bit her bottom lip dangerously hard as her head looked up but couldn’t stop the small gasp when she saw her and Gilbert’s reflection in the mirror. His eyes caught hers and he smirked wickedly. 

He bent down so his chest hovered her back and he could whisper into her ear. “Look at us. You look so hot right now. Taking me all in so good,” he slid out only to slide back in harder to prove his point. Anne first saw a reflection of her face as she let out small “uh” sounds with every other thrust or so. Her skin was flushed and her hair was messy, and she wondered if Gilbert was lying to her because there was no way she thought of herself as “hot” right now. Her breasts jiggled against the counter and her back was so beautifully arched she could see her ass and her waist being gripped by Gilbert’s big hands. She then looked up and her breath was nearly caught when she saw the dark look in his eyes. He panted with every thrust into her and she watched him as his jaw clenched when their eyes met. The eye contact filled with so much tension and unspoken words made Anne realize she was close, as her body and legs started to shake. Her head fell on her arms as her legs shook, nearly giving out if it wasn’t for Gilbert’s grip on her body keeping her up. She spread her legs even wider as she moaned and whispered. Suddenly, she felt his hands tug on her hair and pull her head up again.

“I want to see you,” she saw him growl in the mirror. 

She was too busy shaking and crying silently to answer him. Their eyes met as his hand dug under her to rub her sensitive clit, and soon Anne felt the tension in her body break as she came, crying out. Gilbert’s movements became more frantic and Anne knew he was close too, and soon he groaned as he spilled into her. Anne clasped her hands over her mouth to keep from screaming out at the feeling as he came into her, her walls clenching around his cock as she milked him.

Gilbert lazily thrusted and finished into her a few more times until he pulled out, Anne’s juices glistening and squirting out. He tore the condom off and panted heavily as he threw it out. They were still catching their breaths as Gilbert played with her folds, smoothing her juices over them and making her moan. He was about to circle her entrance before her hand leaned back to knock his arm away. 

“Hey,” he whined.

Anne winced as she tried to turn around and face him, clutching the bathroom counter to keep balance. Gilbert’s hands darted out to clutch her waist to help her keep steady.

“I’m spent,” Anne groaned. “Who knew four orgasms in less than 24 hours could make you so tired?” Gilbert blushed sheepishly and Anne couldn't help but chuckle and pinch his cheeks, “You’re so cute.”

He knocked her hand away, “Whatever. Are you okay?”

“My thighs hurt,” she shrugged, resting her hands on his chest.

Gilbert grimaced, “Sorry, was I too hard?”

“Oh gosh no not because of you,” she shook her head and slapped the bathroom counter. “It was this dummy right here.”

He winced, “Well I’m still sorry because I should’ve asked you if it was okay to do that.”

Anne rolled her eyes, “Don’t. I like it when you take charge,” she admitted. “It’s a nice change of events. Besides,” she stood on her toes to hover her lips over his, “it’s really hot.” She ended with a long kiss to prove her satisfaction, moving around to slap his ass.

He pointed at her, “Hey.” She bit her bottom lip innocently and Gilbert nearly lost it right there. “So do you think it’s too late to get breakfast?”

Anne shrugged, “You go on ahead. I’m gonna get cleaned up.”

“Why not just go together?”

She paused momentarily before shrugging, “I mean it’s not like we’re dating. why would we go out together then?”

He frowned but quickly replaced it with a smirk, “Yeah, yeah you’re right.”

She nodded once before shoo’ing him out of the bathroom. 

Gilbert grumbled to himself as he searched for his lost shirt, clenching his jaw when he saw the remains of his night with Anne lying idly on the floor. He bent down to grab it and throw it back on, buttoning it up and sighed.

“Gilbert!” A perky voice exclaimed from out the corner of the hallway, making Gilbert jump and clutch his chest.

“Jesus Ruby,” he muttered and tried to catch his breath.

Ruby giggled, “So, are you staying for breakfast? Cole’s making pancakes and I’m guessing after last night you’re hungry.”

Gilbert’s face fell and he cleared his throat, “Uh, I don’t want to intrude-”

“Nonsense!” She waved off and latched her arm through Gilbert’s, leading them to the kitchen. “You  _ have _ to try Cole’s pancakes. I swear he is a god at cooking. You don’t know food until you know Cole’s cooking.”

Gilbert realized as he stepped in line of sight of the kitchen that there was no way to back out from this, and he was going to be forced by Anne’s roommates to suffer through their stifled giggles towards him when all he wanted was Anne there.

When Ruby practically pushed him down onto the dining table, Cole came over with the pan and dumped a stack on the plate. Then they all sat around him, mischievous grins on their faces.

“So, you stayed the night,” Cole stated matter of factly.

Gilbert held back a remark as he poked the pancakes with his fork, “Uh yeah.”

“Are you guys officially together now?” Diana asked behind her cup of coffee.

He shook his head with a frown, “No, nothing like that.”

The three glanced knowingly at each other and Gilbert could almost hear what they were communicating with their facial expressions.

“So you two are fuck buddies or what?” Diana asked again, crossing her arms over her chest.

“You guys are very interested in Anne’s personal life aren't you?” He joked.

“Of course we are,” Ruby admitted. “We’re just looking out for her, and it’s not like she’ll tell us anything ourselves  _ so  _ why not coax you into telling us?”

“Ah, so these pancakes are a bribe?”

Diana and Cole shrugged but Ruby nodded. Diana nudged her friend, who just rolled her eyes and made a face that probably said  _ It doesn’t matter now anyways _ .

“So tell us,” Cole started. “Are you guys officially together yet or are you just sleeping together?”

“Well, that’s private.” Gilbert tried to keep the answer short and vague as possible but guessing by the collective grins on their faces, they knew what he was saying.

“About time,” Ruby sighed dreamily. “She’s always going on and on about you. I was wondering when she would see through all that anger.”

“You know what, you should come to Aunt Jo’s ball next week,” Cole said.

“Oh yeah, Anne asked me to the ball,” Gilbert explained.

Her friends gave collective gasps and Gilbert was immediately taken back, wondering if he might’ve accidentally said something shocking until he realized her friends were just desperate for any crumb of the two.

“You are going to lose it when you see Anne’s dress,” Ruby exclaimed. 

Cole leaned in closer, “Aunt Jo’s house usually has open rooms at night,” he winked.

“Oh,” Gilbert muttered.

“Oh my gosh, remember Anne last year?” Ruby laughed. “She was so drunk and grabbed that random guy-.”

Diana hushed her, but Gilbert’s eyebrows still shot up in surprise. He shouldn’t have been feeling that spurt of jealousy he did when Ruby mentioned that, but he couldn’t help it. The idea of Anne with someone else felt foreign to him. It felt weird, wrong perhaps. Gilbert couldn’t imagine her with anyone else but him pleasuring her, kissing her, making her laugh. 

Gilbert didn’t like jealousy. He thought if two people truly trusted each other in a relationship, there would be no reason to feel jealous. The only thing that comforted him about this feeling was that he wasn’t in a relationship with Anne, so he had every reason to feel this way. 

Graciously, he heard a door open and Anne popped out from the hallway, stopping in her tracks when she saw Gilbert and her friends at the table.

“Um good morning,” she muttered, giving Gilbert a look asking  _ What are you still doing here _ ?

He shrugged, subtly gesturing to her friends. By the annoyed look on her face when she caught her friend’s eager gaze, he assumed she knew they forced him to stay.

“Anne, have you shown Gilbert your dress yet?” Ruby asked.

She scoffed, “No. Does it matter?”

“Of course it does! He has to know what it looks like so he can get an outfit that matches.”

Gilbert choked on air and all heads turned to him. He gave a small, apologetic smile.

“Actually I was just about to leave,” Gilbert said as he stood up but was immediately met with protests.

“I’ll walk you out,” Anne said quickly. He gave a grateful smile as she walked him towards the door. “I guess I forgot to tell you to wait for me to sneak you out,” she chuckled as they turned to each other in front of the door.

“It’s fine,” he shrugged. “At least I didn’t have to sneak out the fire escape or something.”

Anne made a face and Gilbert furrowed his eyebrows. “You were going to make me sneak out the fire escape, weren't you?” She waved it off and he snorted. “You’re evil.”

They laughed. “Well, see you tomorrow in class,” Anne said.

Gilbert gave a small smile, “See you. Oh, and if you want, we can go shopping after class one day for my suit.”

She snorted, “You really don’t trust yourself to buy a suit, do you?”

He laughed and shook his head, “No I do not. Well, have a nice day.”

“Bye,” Anne waved.

Gilbert opened the door and let himself out. But before he left, the built up tension flipped a switch in him and he turned back to capture Anne’s lips. She gave a small moan and his arm wrapped around her waist. 

He pulled away, silently praising himself at Anne’s dazed expression. 

“Now goodbye,” he pulled off, giving a sailor’s salute as he walked away, grinning when he heard Anne mutter a small “Oh my god”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am officially: back on my bullshit
> 
> I have a very vague idea of where this story will go but for now I am just writing random shit that I hope you guys like. I’ve probably revised this chapter at least 10 times before I said “fuck it” and posted it. 
> 
> But I hope you guys liked it! Leave a comment or kudos please and thank you!


	11. But with three of us honey it’s a sideshow

Anne and Gilbert went the rest of the week hardly living up to their new, personal title. They were swamped in work and extracurriculars and had almost no alone time besides the usual walk to and from Ms. Stacy’s class. Sometimes, when Anne exposed a little too much skin or her teeth bit down on her bottom lip a little too long, Gilbert was tempted to push her into the closet and take her right then and there.

Their new dynamic didn’t change much between them. They were still friends who teased each other over everything and anything, they were still unusually touchy with each other for a fake couple, and they were still competitive in Ms. Stacy’s class. Anne was certain Ms. Stacy has been giving her a big smile the past few days and was sure to pick her, but Gilbert assured Anne their professor had been assigning Gilbert more tasks and was it only a matter of time until he was chosen.

It was Friday afternoon when they were at the mall to buy Gilbert his outfit for Aunt Jo’s ball. Gilbert’s game got cancelled due to bad weather and he took advantage of the situation, calling Anne to help him in a last minute effort to get a suit. It was also the time Ms. Stacy would email and inform them who she would be keeping. 

Anne kept glancing nervously at her phone until Gilbert snatched it away from her, holding it above his head so she couldn’t get it.

“That’s not fair! I’m short,” she complained, trying to jump to get it.

“Well that’s not my problem, is it?” He asked challengingly. Anne stopped jumping when she realized people were staring at her, blushing in embarrassment and glaring up at Gilbert.

“May I please have my phone back?” She feigned kindness. “I need it to show the store clerks my dress so they can get an outfit that matches.”

Gilbert rolled his eyes and stuffed her phone in his back pocket, making Anne whined in protest. “You'll get this back when I know you’re not lying.”

“I’m not lying! We  _ need  _ to match. I’m scared of what Ruby will do if we show up in different color outfits,” Anne shuddered at the thought.

Gilbert sighed, “Fair. Okay fine.” He reluctantly handed her phone back and her face lit up. “Why don’t you just show me what your dress looks like and make it easy for me?” He suggested.

“Because it’s a surprise,” Anne stated in a ‘duh’ tone and rolled her eyes. “I’m planning on you absolutely losing your head when you see me in it.”

“Do you expect sex too?”

She hummed before shrugging, “Maybe. We haven’t done it in a while,” she muttered the last part.

Gilbert snorted as he followed her into a store. He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Do you wanna change that?”

She smacked his arm, staring up at him in disgust. “We are in  _ public _ !” She hissed.

He nodded to the dressing rooms at the back of the store, “Those look big enough for us both, don’t you think?”

“Can I help you?”

A deep voice startled the two away from each other and they looked up to see a cheerful man glancing between the two, totally unaware of Gilbert’s suggestiveness just a minute ago.

Anne gave a sweet smile, “Hi, we’re looking for a suit for my boyfriend here,” she gestured to Gilbert who held his hand up, “and I was wondering if you had any that matched this?” 

She took her phone out and gave it to the store clerk. By the way his eyebrows shot to his hairline and his glances between Anne and her phone, Gilbert had reason to believe he was going to be in for a surprise tomorrow.

“Uh, y-yes,” the store clerk stammered as he handed Anne her phone back and led them further into the store.

“I think you made him fall in love with you,” Gilbert leaned down to her ear and teased.

She gave a victorious smile over her shoulder, “What can I say? Men just can’t get enough of me.”

The store clerk- whose name they eventually learned was Isaac- gave them a couple suits to try on and Anne immediately shoo’d Gilbert into the dressing room to try them on. She sat dutifully on the loveseat outside, her knee bouncing up and down as she glanced at her phone, waiting for that cursed email.

“Are you ready?” Gilbert called from the other side of the curtain.

Anne giggled and clapped her hands before chanting, “Fashion show, fashion show, fashion- oh.”

Her cheering faltered when Gilbert appeared from the curtain in a bright golden suit that made Anne stifle a laugh.

Gilbert glared at her, “Don’t laugh.”

She held her hands up in defense, “I didn’t say anything!”

“You were about to,” he noted with a grimace.

The cycle continued for a couple more suits, with Anne either laughing hysterically or being plain scarred when he reappeared from the curtain. Finally, when Anne just about lost hope, Gilbert came out in a dark black suit with golden floral patterns. He did a twirl and smiled shyly when Anne let out a loud gasp.

“That’s perfect!” Anne jumped over to Gilbert to marvel at the suit. “And you actually don’t look bad in it!”

Gilbert rolled his eyes, “Thank you.”

“How much is it?” Anne patted around for the price tag until she finally found it, and her smile fell. Gilbert took it from her and let out a low whistle.

“We could just make a run for it,” he whispered and Anne smacked him in the arm.

“Shut up,” she hissed. Anne placed her hand on the suit and caressed it, sighing deeply before dropping her hand. “We can get another cheaper one,” she said.

“What? No, you said this one was perfect,” Gilbert protested.

“It’s too expensive. Aunt Jo leant me a couple hundred dollars to buy my dress and I had some left over but it’s not enough,” Anne explained sadly.

Gilbert frowned. He hated seeing Anne upset or disappointed. So with a small sigh, he went back into the dressing room and pulled his wallet out, taking his credit card out and waving it in her face.

“I’ll pay,” he said in a tone of finality.

Anne furrowed her eyebrows, “Of course you’re not.”

“It is  _ my  _ suit, isn't it?” He challenged.

She crossed her arms over her chest, “I’m not letting you. It’s way too expensive.”

Gilbert bent down so his eyes were level with Anne’s and he cupped her face, focusing her attention on him. “You can’t tell me what to do Anne. I want to buy this suit and I will.”

“I’m paying you back,” she demanded.

He smirked, “No you won’t.”

“Yes I will! I feel bad,” she pouted.

“If you pay me back I’ll just give the money back to you,” he explained. “Don’t feel bad, okay? I’m the one who wants this suit.”

“Yeah but you only want it because I like it,” she muttered, darting her eyes to the ground.

He released her face and sighed, “True, but I think that’s absolutely worth it. Now I’m going to go change back and buy it and you can sit your cute butt on that sofa in the meantime, okay?”

Anne wanted to say something, or more so just scream at how unfair he was being. But when he cocked an eyebrow at her, challenging her to defy, she huffed and admitted defeat as she walked back to the loveseat. Gilbert grinned, smacking her ass as she retreated and she turned back to gawk but he was already closing the curtain.

They surprisingly managed to buy the suit without any further arguments and were now sitting in the food court with their recent purchase sitting idly on the floor next to them in a bag.

Gilbert was trying unsuccessfully to stuff two fries in his mouth to imitate a walrus with Anne snorting at his failed attempts.

“Tilt your head back a bit!” Anne tried to help.

“But then you won’t be able to see me,” Gilbert argued as the fries, once again, fell from his mouth. He took them and handed them near Anne, and she leaned over to take them in her mouth, chewing in delight.

“Just accept defeat,” Anne said after she swallowed.

Gilbert groaned, “I swear I can do it. I do it at home all the time.”

“It’s nice to know where the football team’s sense of humor lies in.”

“Ha ha,” he said in a deadpan tone and she giggled.

The mention of the football team reminded Gilbert of Sunday morning after he came home from Anne’s. They were relentless in their teasing. Their jokes were foul mouthed and if it weren’t for Moody and Jerry, Gilbert was sure he would’ve gotten into a fight with at least one of them. It hurt Gilbert knowing what these disgusting guys were saying about Anne behind her back. She hasn’t mentioned any harassment from anyone lately, and he’s wondering if their status as a couple to the outside world made people back off. Well that and the fact that gossip in Queens is hot for one week and by the next people will totally forget about it. 

But that still wasn’t the case for men like Billy Andrews, who made the most disgusting comment about Anne’s body that told Gilbert he didn’t learn from his pummeling at the party. Or for men like Paul, who joked about photoshopping Anne’s social media photos into…

Just the thought of it made Gilbert infuriated. He didn’t even realize how tightly he was clenching his jaw until he heard a soft call of his name, and looked up to see Anne looking worried at him.

“Are you okay?” She asked softly.

Gilbert shook his head out of it, giving a small chuckle and shrugging. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine.”

Anne frowned, definitely not buying it, but didn’t pester. She bit her bottom lip and dipped a fry in her milkshake before popping it in her mouth. Gilbert mimicked her as they sat in comfortable silence. The bubbling, lively atmosphere of the mall surrounded them, but they were perfectly content sitting by themselves.

Then Anne got a ping on her phone. Her face fell and Gilbert could see her hands trembling when she picked her phone up before quickly shutting it off and stuffing it in her back pocket.

“What was it?” Gilbert asked. 

Anne didn’t reply. She kept her gaze down at the table as her fingers fumbled with the fries, until she finally dumped them back in the basket with shaky hands.

“Uh, is it okay if we leave a bit early?” Anne muttered under her breath, avoiding Gilbert’s eyes.

He leaned forward, crossing his arms on the table. “What happened?”

“It’s nothing.” Anne got up from her chair and put her coat on. Gilbert stood up in his chair too.

“Do you want me to drive you home?”

“Uh I don’t know-“

He gently gripped Anne’s wrist to make her turn back to him. She reluctantly did so, and he saw her beautiful eyes were watering and red-brimmed. Seeing her eyes so pained didn’t seem right to him. It was hard to imagine her eyes being anything but the beautiful clear ocean-blue it always is.

“Hey, what happened?” He asked softly. He reached up to wipe away a stray tear running down her cheek.

Anne nudged his hands away. “Can you just take me home? Please.”

Gilbert nodded. He took the bag in one hand and Anne’s in the other as she grabbed the food. When they exited the food court, Gilbert tried to wrap his arm around Anne’s shoulder but she shrugged him off. She didn’t look up at him as they walked to the car.

When they were in the car, Gilbert noticed her leg was bobbing up and down. His right hand darted out and rested on her knee. Her leg stopped shaking and she relaxed under his touch, still staring out the window.

“Winnie texted me,” Anne explained quietly. “It’s funny, I nearly forgot about her the past week.”

Gilbert’s grip on Anne’s knee tightened at the mention of her name. “What’d she say?”

She exhaled shakily. “She...she just reminded me to stay away from you or she’ll...I don’t even know. She said something about some guy named Paul and pictures and honestly I hardly remember what it said.”

Gilbert’s face fell in realization after he connected the dots in his head. Somehow, Winnie must have heard about Paul’s “joke”, somehow he probably did make those pictures and somehow Winnie got a hold of them and threatened to release them.

Anne’s legs started shaking again. “God why does life have to be so cruel to me? I’ve never even done anything like that before!” She reprimanded herself, digging her face into her elbow perched up on the windowsill.

Gilbert flickered his gaze over to Anne, “Anne hey, it’s going to be okay.”

It was silent for a moment as Anne tried to catch her breath. Gilbert rubbed comforting circles on her knee and said quiet reassurances.

Finally Anne exhaled before turning to face Gilbert, a steely look on her face. “What happened with you and her?”

Gilbert was sure if they were walking her freeze. “What do you mean?”

“Why is she even out to get me? What happened between you two that makes her hate me so much? Did you break her heart? Did you cheat on her? What’d you do? Because Gilbert I’m sick of this.” Anne exclaimed in frustration.

He gulped, his finger halting drawing circles on her knee. “Anne it’s complicated.”

“Complicated my ass! This whole situation is complicated! I can  _ handle  _ complicated and I swear Gilbert if you don’t answer me right now-“

“Anne,” Gilbert said, glancing over at her and he noticed her face visibly softened.

She closed her eyes, breathing in and out. “I’m sorry. But Gilbert please, what happened?”

It was his turn to be silent for a moment. It wasn’t until he reached a red light did he let it all out, keeping his eyes straight ahead. “I was friends with Winnie for a little while. We were  _ just _ friends, or at least I thought so. Apparently she thought I was leading her on, and I have to admit now that I look back at it, maybe I unintentionally was. So one day, she came by and tried to sleep with me but...I don’t even remember what happened next. I told her I didn’t like her like that and I guess things got carried away. I never meant to hurt her.”

Anne froze under his touch, “Did you hit her?” She asked in a soft, but scared tone.

Gilbert snapped his neck to her. “God, Anne no of course not! I-I never  _ physically  _ hurt her.”

Realization dawned on Anne. “Oh.”

“I said stuff that was  _ really  _ hurtful when we started arguing. I don’t even remember what I said. That whole night was a daze to me. I hurt her really bad, I know that. I apologized as soon as I could and I thought we were okay but then she goes and pulls this and,” Gilbert exhales, rubbing his hands through his hair in frustration.

Anne bit down on her bottom lip. “I do remember her coming by one day crying her eyes out. She never told anyone what happened, but she said she got rejected.”

Gilbert rubbed his face with his hand, “That was probably me.”

“Yeah,” she said breathily.

The fact that Gilbert could’ve hurt a girl so bad that she still held a grudge and enacted revenge years later made Anne weary. For some reason, she felt a sort of sympathy towards Winifred. She tried making the first move because she thought her infatuation was reciprocated, only to come back heartbroken. Any girl would've been pissed, thought maybe not as psychotic as Winifred was being.

She glanced over at Gilbert. He was staring at the road with his jaw clenched and Anne knew the conversation was uncomfortable for him. Suddenly she remembered the text she got from Winnie, and wanted to just roll down the windows and scream into nothing. How does someone hurt a girl so bad that she would threaten the other girl so bad? How could she ever look at him the same way?

“Have a nice night, Gilbert,” Anne said quickly and opened the car door when she realized they arrived at her place. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Can we talk?” He called out.

“We’ll talk tomorrow,” she called back without facing him.

She didn’t hear him exit his car and follow her up to her apartment until she heard him call her name when she opened her door. Anne rolled her eyes as she turned around to face him, a desperate, sad look on his face.

“What?” She asked exasperatedly. 

“I’m not that person anymore,” he said quickly. “I know I fucked up with her and I hurt her but please believe me, I’m not like that. I would never, ever intentionally hurt someone.”

Anne bit her inner cheek, “Why are you even saying this?”

“Because I need you to know.” Gilbert reached over to grab her hands, rubbing his thumb on the back of her hands as he tried desperately to catch her eye. “I don’t want you to think I’m some evil monster.”

“I don’t,” she said.

“Anne please, I don’t think I can live with you hating me for this. I was stupid and gross but I’m not like that anymore.”

“Why do you need  _ me  _ to know?” Anne sighed tiredly. 

Gilbert’s expression grew into something unreadable. She raised an eyebrow, encouraging him to answer and she saw him open his mouth until a ping from their phones broke them apart, and they suddenly remembered about Ms. Stacy.

They quickly pulled their phones out and saw the notifications on their phones. Gilbert glanced up at Anne who was avoiding his eye.

“Do you want me to open it first?” He asked.

She clenched her jaw, “No need.”

Gilbert furrowed his eyebrows in confusion until Anne showed him her phone. 

_ “Good afternoon Anne, I’m so sorry to tell you after a long, careful deliberation that I have decided you will be transferring to be a T.A. for Mr. Phillips’s class. I have already emailed him and the board about my decision. Please know this wasn’t personal at all and I hope there are no hard feelings. You are a bright young student and will be an excellent teacher-“ _

That was all he was able to read before Anne angrily shut her phone off and stuffed it into her pocket. 

“Oh Anne,” he started but trailed off, not really knowing what to say.

“Congrats,” her voice croaked. 

“I’m sorry.”

She shrugged it off, “Why are you apologizing? It’s not your fault.”

“But you wanted to stay. You wanted to learn from Ms. Stacy.”

“It’s fine, we both knew she was going to pick you,” Anne dropped her gaze to the ground and wiped her watery eyes. “I’ve had a really shitty day Gilbert, so if you don’t mind I’m gonna head inside. See you tomorrow.”

“Anne please-“

“Goodnight Gilbert.” And with that she stepped inside and shut the door on a crestfallen Gilbert. 

Anne quickly ran into her room and didn’t break down until she locked the door behind her. She fell on her bed and threw her phone somewhere on the floor, not even caring about its state or whether it was intact. 

The email was the icing on the cake for her. She thought she couldn’t feel worse after what Winifred sent her, but that somehow managed to do so. 

“Fuck you Gilbert Blythe,” Anne muttered through tears. “Fuck you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a whole, weird rollercoaster. At some parts I didn’t even know where I was going with it. I promise I’ll stop with the unnecessary angst soon but I just LOVE angst so much. 
> 
> Next chapter will probably be up soon! Maybe in the next couple days or later next week because school just started and I’m swamped so far. I’ve also finally decided on an outline with 17 chapters + an epilogue and I plan on finishing this story soon. Maybe not so soon but in the next month or so.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and please leave a comment or kudos!


	12. Everyone’s swimming in a champagne sea

Despite the fact that Anne ignored all his calls and texts that day, he told himself he needed to see her and went down to the limo at the specified time for Aunt Jo’s ball. That and the fact that he didn’t want to waste the money for the suit.

He also came with Moody and Jerry, who were apparently asked by Ruby and Diana, respectively, to be their dates. Moody was wearing a pink three-piece suit that could not have been worth less than four digits and Jerry was wearing a light blue tuxedo. 

When they all appeared from their rooms, they gave each other silent gazes saying ‘Not a word’ and headed down to the limo together with their night bags in hand.

Gilbert was delighted to see Josie Pye, a girl he had befriended a while ago, in the limo along with everybody else. He leaned over to give her a quick hug and gave his bag to the driver to put in the trunk before settling in, sitting uncomfortably between Josie and the door.

He glanced over to Anne on the opposite side and frowned when he saw she was the only one wearing a coat over her dress. She avoided his eye but couldn’t avoid the heat of his gaze as he eyed her up and down. Her hair was let loose in voluminous curls down one side and her makeup made her look as beautiful as ever. He saw the train of gold fabric falling from her coat and how Ruby and Jane held parts of it as delicately as they could without damaging it.

Josie noticed him staring and nudged him in the side. “Did you guys get in a fight?”

He fell back against the seat. “Yeah.”

“What happened?”

Gilbert bit his inner cheek, “It’s a long story.”

“I’m guessing Winifred was involved?” Josie mumbled only so Gilbert could hear.

He sighed, “A bit, yeah.”

“I’ll beat her up for you, just say the word.”

Gilbert snorted, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

She grinned and glanced back at Anne, who was discreetly staring at the two until Josie looked and then glanced back to Ruby and Jane’s conversation.

“I saw her dress,” Josie noted. “She looks really hot. You guys better make up fast because not even I could go a few minutes without staring at her.”

“Are you the reason she’s wearing a coat in here?”

She shook her head, “I think she just felt cold or something. Plus there was a group of guys when we were coming down and I think she recognized some of them…” she trailed off when she saw Gilbert’s jaw clench. “Sorry,” she mumbled apologetically.

“Do you know how much longer until we get there?” Gilbert aske, changing the subject.

“Um it might be another hour or so.”

Gilbert groaned and Josie chuckled, patting his arm. “You’ll live.”

The rest of the ride went by slowly. He kept glancing over at Anne whose number one priority was to ignore him as much as she could. Her gaze would occasionally flicker to him but she’d look away almost immediately. When they finally arrived at Aunt Jo’s, Gilbert was the first to step out. He stared in awe at the mansion in front of him. He could practically feel the liveliness of the party from outside the house. There were cars parked everywhere, and people in elaborate dresses poured out from each of them. He didn’t move his eyes away until he felt a small tap on his shoulder, and turned around to see Josie smirk and nod her head back to the limo where Anne was coming out.

Gilbert gulped and cautiously went to her side to help her out. Anne stiffened under his touch but forced herself to relax when he offered his arm. She put her arm through his and let him lead her.

He gave a small smile, “You look beautiful.”

Anne snorted, “You haven’t even seen my dress yet.”

“Still, you always look beautiful,” he said quietly, their eyes meeting. Even in heels she still barely reached his shoulders yet somehow that wasn’t the thing making her feel small.

She gave a small, grateful smile. “Thank you.”

He nodded once, turning back to the house where the rest of their group was already in front of them, calling for the two to hurry. Anne blushed and tugged his arm.

When they entered, bodyguards and waiters stood at the front. One of the waiters offered to take Anne’s coat for her as Diana signed them all off for the guests list.

Anne glanced shyly at Gilbert before turning away, unbuttoning her coat and making Gilbert gasp.

Her dress fit her body and hugged her curves so smugly he couldn’t bring himself to think a coherent thought. There was a spaghetti strap white shapewear bodysuit under the golden sequins and fabric. The cups of her dress pushed her breasts up and the scandalous slit on her left leg would’ve left almost little to the imagination had it not been the gold train covering her. Gilbert was breathless, and he was sure every man near proximity was too.

Anne blushed when Gilbert gawked at her and her friends whistled, awkwardly handing her coat over to the waiter before stepping towards Gilbert.

He struggled to find words, “You-you look g-great.”

Her eyebrows raised slightly, “Great?”

“That’s an understatement,” he said quickly. “I-I meant you look...I don’t know if it’s appropriate to say what I think,” he admitted quietly.

Anne bit her bottom lip and Gilbert cursed under his breath. She had to know what she was doing to him. Josie was right, he had no idea how he was going to go the rest of the night like this.

“We should get going,” she pointed to the entrance. Gilbert quickly nodded and extended his arm again, she took it again as they made their way inside.

Gilbert was already overwhelmed with how luxurious yet eventful this ball seemed to be. It reminded him of a Roaring 20’s party, and only found it fitting that some people were even dressed like that time period. Music was blaring and it took him a minute to realize there were no speakers or DJ’s like he was used to, but instead a real band with an orchestra behind them. They didn’t even seem to be playing from sheet music, just playing whatever fit the whole energy of the room.

He stared in awe at the furnishings scattered across the room and the designs carved into the wall and architecture. He felt he was transported to a wealthy socialite’s mansion in the early 1900’s, yet he could’ve sworn he’d traveled to the future.

Anne’s gaze flickered over to him, “You get used to it,” she said, trying to break the silence.

Gilbert simply nodded, his eyes still scanning the room to memorize everything about this place as he could. It seemed he wasn’t alone in his marveling, as Moody and Jerry were also staring in shock.

Anne nudged him further into the room to an empty table where their group settled their stuff. Gilbert finally snapped out of his daze when Anne’s arm slipped from his only to fall mesmerized by her. She was ethereal, absolutely nothing in this mansion could match her beauty.

“You really do look beautiful,” he told her.

She looked over to him with a small frown, “You don’t have to keep complimenting me”

“I know. I want to,” he explained softly.

“Do you guys want some food or a room?” Cole interrupted, and their eyes snapped over to him.

“You’re hilarious,” Anne said dryly. “I’ll eat later. You guys go do whatever, I’ll guard the table.”

Their group dismantled and she was left alone with Gilbert, who was still staring at her.

“Can we talk?” He asked.

Anne cleared her throat, pointedly looking away from him. “Not alone.”

“Come on. Please?”

“What are you going to say?” She asked, exasperated. “That you changed? That you didn’t mean to hurt Winifred? Because I know that, Gilbert. I know you never meant to hurt her. But it still hurts that this whole time while I was blaming her for everything, you were the one who caused all this.”

“Are you seriously defending her? I never told her to do this stuff to you! She’s wicked and ruining your life over something that happened years ago.”

“How do you hurt someone so bad that they’re still affected by it years later?”

Gilbert’s eyes grew dark and his lips formed a thin line. He was angry, angry at Winifred for causing all this and angry at Anne for blaming him for something he wasn’t even responsible for. 

Anne scoffed, shaking her head before rising from her seat. “I need a drink.”

Gilbert stood up and gripped her wrist before she could leave, pulling her chest flush against him and wrapping his arm around her back. They were very aware of the lack of space between their chests and the feel of her breasts pushing against him, but their anger with each other clouded any other thought.

“Is this also about the T.A. position?” He asked.

Anne’s eyes broke away from his. She kept her gaze on the crowd of people dancing, refusing to look up at him as she shrugged. Gilbert’s grip tightened on her back and her steely gaze flickered back to him.

“I’m not mad about that. You got it fair and square and it’s not like I can do anything about it now,” she explained defensively.

“But you’re still upset,” he added.

She clenched her jaw and pushed him off of her, making him stumble back a bit until he gripped the top of the chair. He stared at her as she walked off. Her red hair got lost in the sea of people, and suddenly the whole room felt melancholy and suffocating.

Only a couple of their friends returned , the rest going god knows where around the house to bask in its festivities. He excused himself from them and went to go find Anne. Everywhere he turned, people would dance or jump up in his face like their lives depended on it. He could practically smell the luxury disguised in alcohol and drugs. If it wasn’t so addicting it would’ve made him nauseous.

He practically scavenged the entire first floor of the house until he felt himself bump into someone when he walked up the stairs and into the first hallway.

“I’m so sorry, are you okay?” He quickly apologized to the stranger.

She was an elderly woman with a kind face, and seemed quite shocked when she looked up at Gilbert.

“Oh dear don’t worry,” she said soothingly. “It’s not everyday you bump into such a handsome young man.”

Gilbert smiled politely, still in an adrenaline rush to find Anne, but the old lady’s gentle hand laid on his, and he realized he was stuck.

“Where are you going?” She asked.

He glanced around impatiently before turning back to her with a plastered smile. “Just looking for someone.”

“Oh, well good luck trying to find them in this place,” she chuckled mostly to herself. “Sometimes I can barely navigate through the rooms in this house, and I’ve lived here since I was a young girl.”

The gears in Gilbert’s head turned and he furrowed his eyebrows slightly. “Excuse me, are you Diana’s aunt?”

Aunt Jo let out a throaty chuckle, “Call me Aunt Jo, my dear. And what is your name?”

“Gilbert Blythe.”

Her eyebrows shot up and she clicked her tongue, “My, Anne was right. You are far more handsome than anything she described.”

Gilbert blushed, slightly at the fact that Anne talks about him, and that she described him as ‘handsome’.

“I’m assuming she’s the one you’re looking for?” Aunt Jo inquired.

He sighed, “Yes.”

Aunt Jo had an amused, tight-lipped smile as she hummed to herself. “I may have an inkling where she is.” She offered her arm for Gilbert, gesturing it to him when he glanced curiously at her before dutifully taking her arm in his, allowing the elder woman to take him back down the stairs. As she descended, people stopped to greet her and she’d offer them the most appreciative smile he’d ever seen. It wasn’t fake or forced at all, she seemed entirely grateful to the people who showed up.

Gilbert cleared his throat when they passed the sea of people. “If you don’t mind me asking, where are we going?”

Aunt Jo’s gaze flickered up to him, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Did she not tell you she had a special job tonight?”

Gilbert shook his head, “She didn’t really tell me much about what to expect, if I’m being honest.”

She led him back into the main room, where tables and people were now gathered around a wide stage draped in flowers and plants around its perimeter. He stood on his toes to look for a specific hue of red, but cursed under his breath when he couldn’t find her.

“She didn’t say _anything_?” Aunt Jo asked with a quirk of her eyebrows.

Gilbert shook his head, “She told me ‘there are no words I can fathom to describe it’.”

“And do you agree?”

“Oh yes, yes of course,” he cleared his throat. “Well to be honest, I haven’t really had time to do much except look for Anne.”

Aunt Jo let out a heartily chuckle before putting a gentle hand over his arm, untangling from him. “I must go up, people will suspect something if I am not there.” She turned back to him with a genuine smile. “I expect you to stay here until it’s over.”

He stammered, “I-I have to find Anne though-“

“I assure you, you will find her,” she replied with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Just stay here.”

Aunt Jo then walked through the edge of the room to the stage, leaving Gilbert in the back surrounded by drunk partygoers. He was pushed around until he finally had enough and moved back to the table where his friends, or most of them, sat. He mentally noted Josie and Jane sitting a little too closely, giggling incoherently to themselves like they were the only people in the world. Ruby and Moody weren’t any more subtle, awkward and shy flirting between them as Moody leaned in to tuck a strand of blonde curl behind her ear. Diana was trying to ignore Jerry as much as she could but relented when he leaned in to whisper something in her ear, making her gasp and smack his thigh. Tillie was surrounded by a group of men, and he pointedly turned around to avoid them. The only people missing were Cole and his boyfriend Roy, and Gilbert didn’t want to imagine what they were doing.

Suddenly, a booming voice sounded out over the room, and more people filled in. Gilbert saw Aunt Jo standing in the middle of the platform, a warm smile on her face. 

“Good evening everyone. I would ask if you are enjoying the party, but I think I can guess for myself.” The crowd erupted into cheers and Aunt Jo laughed as she gestured for them to quiet down. 

Gilbert cleared his throat and tapped Diana on the shoulder. “Do you know where Anne is?” He whispered.

Diana furrowed her eyebrows, “You don’t know?” Gilbert shook his head. “Well you’re going to be in for a surprise.” She gestured to the stage and Gilbert stared out in confusion until he saw a glimpse of red and gold hover near the stage.

“Now, a reading of ‘The Lady’s Yes’ from our very special Anne Shirley-Cuthbert,” Aunt Jo announced and was met with gracious applause and cheers as she exited the stage, Anne walking up to her place.

Gilbert turned his full body towards the stage as he watched Anne gracefully take a microphone, turning towards the crowd with that all familiar smile. The dangling lights from the ceiling in arches paled in comparison to the shine of her. The way her teeth glistened, the shimmering reflection of her dress, her beautiful hair with a red hue not even the most talented artist could conjure up, it nearly took Gilbert’s breath away.

Their friends eagerly turned to the front as Anne breathed deeply before bringing the microphone to her lips.

“ _ Yes!’ I answered you last night; _

_ ‘No!’ this morning, sir, I say! _

_ Colors, seen by candlelight,  _

_Will not look the same by day_. ”

Gilbert didn’t realize how entranced he was until he slowly got up from the table, his eyes kept on her the entire time.

“ _ When the tabors played their best,  _

_ Lamps above, and laughs below —  _

_ Love me sounded like a jest,  _

_Fit for Yes or fit for No!_ ”

He politely excused the people he pushed past through in the crowd. She was ethereal as she stood, even more enticing as she recited.

“ _ Call me false, or call me free—  _

_ Vow, whatever light may shine,  _

_ No man on your face shall see  _

_ Any grief for change on mine.  _

_ Yet the sin is on us both—  _

_ Time to dance is not to woo—  _

_ Wooer light makes fickle troth—  _

_Scorn of me recoils on you!_ ”

Gilbert managed to make it near the front of the crowd, his gaze settled on Anne and Anne only. Her voice, her motions, just  her  was enough to bewitch him, mind, body, and soul.

“ _ Learn to win a lady's faith  _

_ Nobly, as the thing is high;  _

_ Bravely, as for life and death—  _

_ With a loyal gravity.  _

_ Lead her from the festive boards,  _

_ Point her to the starry skies,  _

_ Guard her, by your truthful words,  _

_Pure from courtship's flatteries_.”

As if she could sense Gilbert, her gaze drifted to him, her eyes kept on him and only him as she whispered out the last stanza.

“ _ By your truth she shall be true —  _

_ Ever true, as wives of yore —  _

_ And her Yes, once said to you,  _

_Shall be Yes for evermore_.”

She lowered her mic, and the whole room erupted into applause. Anne and Gilbert kept their taxes on each other he smiled softly, clapping along with everyone else. Anne blushed, hardly even noticing the crowd of people surrounding the stage, muttering a “Thank you” as she dipped her head and quickly walked down the platform. 

Gilbert moved to get to her, cringing at his lack of propriety and shame as he pushed past people. He finally reached her at the end of the stairs, gently tugging her hand to look at him.

“Anne,” he said breathlessly.

Anne opened her mouth to answer, but she was swarmed by people who started congratulating her. Gilbert was pushed to the back of the crowd, his eyes desperately clawing for Anne’s. He was left at the perimeter of the group enclosing her. Suddenly, he saw a young man lean in, kiss Anne’s cheek, and grip her waist as she looked up at him. Her hands moved to his sitting on his waist and Gilbert felt his jaw clench. Was she spending her whole time at the party with him? Was he the one she left Gilbert at the table for? Did she like him? He couldn’t bear to know.

He wasn’t sure if someone else was on the stage or if the party had continued, all he knew was that he pushed past everyone to Anne, grabbing her wrist and pushing the man off her, leading her through the house.

Anne called his name and tried to whack his hand off her, but he didn’t budge, not until he dragged them to a small, empty ballroom and pushed Anne against the door. Their chests heaved and their breaths hovered over each other’s as they stared into each other. The faint sound of the music continued on as their eyes bore into each other’s, the sheer power from their stares making the close proximity of their body all the more sinful. The light emitting from the crack of the door was the only thing lighting up the room. They couldn’t see each other in the darkness, but as Gilbert caged her against the door, they could make out the fuzzy outline of their features.

They stayed with him pinning her against the door for what felt like the entire night, until their eyes visibly softened, an unknown feeling coursing through their veins and pumping their blood. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for two ends. First, for posting this later then I promised. Second, for this chapter being really rushed and bad. I absentmindedly add angst everytime I write, so I apologize to every reader whom I indirectly promised that the story would have fluff.
> 
> I had a vague outline for this chapter but it ended up being too long, so I cut it down to two chapters. Hopefully, I’ll have the next one up by the end of this week! 
> 
> Also, here is how I imagined Anne’s dress this chapter: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/664210645029634268/?amp_client_id=vm7iZRqhbeQWlRVkR9RlUqbbfjZgQrt_j5s71qATyn7Ho8mkxF3jGcdNCDk2NfQ3&mweb_unauth_id=17387c81&_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Famp%2Farieschild88%2Fcrazy-dresses%2F&_analytics=1*1ev2x9p*cid*dm03aVpScWhiZVFXbFJWa1I5UmxVcWJiZmpaZ1FydF9qNXM3MXFBVHluN0hvOG1reEYzakdjZE5DRGsyTmZRMw..


	13. If I could dance with you again, I’d kiss you as the lights go out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for 10k reads!! I am honestly so surprised thank you for following along with this weird story :)

“What are you doing?” Anne finally found the breath to ask, Gilbert’s breath hot as his face hovered over hers. 

Gilbert blinked, as if just realizing where he was, and took a step back. “S-sorry.”

“You can’t just keep pulling me away from places,” Anne declared angrily. Even in the dim light he knew her eyebrows were adorably furrowed together.

“I just wanted to talk, Anne,” he assured quietly.

”About what?” She asked desperately. “You just rudely pulled me away from those people and into some dark room. I didn’t even get to say ‘hi’ to my friend.”

Gilbert clenched his jaw, “That guy that kissed you?”

Anne scoffed, “You cannot be jealous right now.”

“I’m not jealous,” he shrugged, the slight high-pitch resonance of his voice giving him away.

She crossed her arms, shaking her head in disbelief. “If you want to know, we were friends in high school and hadn’t seen each other in a year. It’s not like he kissed me with his tongue.”

Gilbert winced at the image and tried to shake it out of his mind. I’m sorry ,okay. I’ve been looking for you for an hour so when I finally found you, I refused to let you leave again without talking this through.”

“Why? So we could just argue over nothing?”

Gilbert rubbed his hands over his face in frustration. “I don’t want us to keep fighting. I just want to apologize for everything, if you’ll let me.”

Anne didn’t say anything, only glancing down at the ground, refusing to talk until she calmed her breathing. She crossed her arms over her chest protectively like a jacket that she would crawl into and hide from the rest of the world in.

“You don’t have to apologize,” she shrugged. “I’m sorry for overreacting.”

“Yes I do,” he said firmly, taking a cautious step towards her. “You’re still upset over something and I won’t leave until I apologize thoroughly for whatever I did to make you feel this way.”

She shook her head, “It’s nothing, it’s dumb.”

“Anything that makes you upset is never ‘nothing’.”

Anne looked back up at him with watery eyes. He felt compelled to cup her face and reassure her everything would be okay. It hurt seeing her upset, even more so that it was because of him.

“Is it about the T.A. position?” He asked.

Anne shook her head, “I have no reason to hate you for that. You got it fair and square, it’s fine.”

“Then what is it?” He gently prodded.

Anne dabbed her eyes with the back of her hands, glancing back down at the ground. “I hate myself so much.”

“Anne.”

Anne cleared her throat, bracing herself. “I know I suggested everything, the fake dating, the sex, but...I don’t know why I did that. I don’t know why I did that because all we do is find something to get mad about and argue and-and we are not good for each other but I keep, I keep wanting to find ways to be with you and I didn’t understand it. I don’t even know what I’m saying.“

Gilbert finally listened to his instincts and reached up to cup her face. She sniffled when she looked up at him and his chest dropped at that small noise. Her height rested barely under her shoulder even in heels, and she looked so delicate in front of him he wanted to do nothing less than take her pain away.

“I’m just so confused,” she admitted breathlessly. “Thinking about you hurting Winifred and maybe hurting me just makes me so upset and conflicted and I don’t even know why.”

“Anne, you have to know I promised myself I would never hurt you again,” he pleaded quietly.

She shook her head, closing her eyes and tilting her head back to keep the tears from falling. “Do you know what I’m talking about?”

He frowned, “What do you mean?”

Anne scoffed, “Never mind then.”

“Anne.”

“Do you not get it too?” She asked desperately. “The confused pit in your heart, head, and stomach whenever we’re around each other? Do you not know what I’m talking about?”

Gilbert knew exactly what she meant. He knew exactly what she was referring to and he knew exactly what she was avoiding saying as well. Somehow, he managed to nod, admitting their pent up desires they held for each other since the entire situation began.

They were quiet as the moment sunk in, their confused emotions burdening them. He kept his hands resting on her arm, not wanting her to let go.

“I don’t think anyone in our situation could’ve gone through all that without at least a little confusion,” he tried to reassure her.

Anne did let out a small chuckle and nodded, “Yeah, yeah.”

“This is really complicated,” he admitted, scanning her face until he met her eyes.

She gently placed her hand over his, “Maybe one day it’ll be simple.”

He gave a small smile, “Maybe.”

They stared shyly at each other, the affection evident in their eyes. Gilbert always assumed his obsession with her eyes were because of the ocean blue color that gave a sense of nostalgia from his time on the ship, but at that moment the absolute ferocity yet kindness in them that truly drew him in.

“Do you still want to talk about this?” Anne asked quietly.

Gilbert shook his head, “Not really.”

She smiled faintly, “Okay.”

The loud cheers from the other side of the door erupted them from their daze, bringing them back to reality. 

“Do-do you wanna go back?” He asked awkwardly with a clear of his throat.

Anne opened her mouth to answer, but she closed it. “You can go ahead, I don’t want to keep you from the festivities.”

Gilbert shook his head, “No no, I’m good staying here with you.”

She frowned, “But you said you’ve been looking for me the entire time. You can’t come to this ball and not at least have one dance, or something.”

A mischievous glint in his eyes appeared as he smiled wickedly. Anne stared cautiously up at him. “What?” She asked.

Gilbert stood back a couple steps and held a hand out for her, making Anne’s eyebrow quirk up.

“What are you doing?” She asked. If he was playing some sort of game with her after what just happened between them, she was certain the night would not end well for him.

“You said I can’t be here and not dance,” he repeated her words with a small shrug.

Anne rolled her eyes, “I meant out there, idiot.” He beckoned his hand to her again. She glanced from his hand back to him and she sighed. “You’re gonna persist about this until I accept, aren’t you?”

The mischievous dance of his eyebrows answered her question. A small, tingly feeling rose in the pit of her stomach as he stared at her, eyes glazed. So with a small smile, she took his hand, and he led her to the middle of the dark room.

“There’s barely any light in here, this is going to go really bad,” she warned him as he intertwined one of their hands and put her hand on his shoulder, resting his on her waist.

Gilbert grinned, “That’s what makes this all the more fun.”

Then he started. It was difficult at first, with Anne’s long dress train sneaking up on them and nearly making Gilbert trip more times than he’d like to admit, but soon they found a rhythm. Giggles and the sound of faint music filled the empty, dark room, the only light being the shimmering sparkles of the dim chandelier off Anne’s dress.

“You’re actually a good dancer,” she said in shock as he twirled her around and pulled her to his chest.

Gilbert narrowed his eyes playfully, “You assumed I was bad?”

Anne giggled as he moved them around the room, “Maybe.”

He twirled her again, catching her by surprise as he dipped her down, his hands wrapping around her waist to keep her up. Her hand rested on his chest as the other one wrapped around his neck, drawing circles on his skin.

“You really do look beautiful tonight,” he whispered and put her back on her feet.

Her small “thank you” was interrupted with a yelp when he spun her around again. What they were doing couldn’t necessarily be considered ballroom dancing, but by the elegance with which Gilbert led her, Anne could’ve easily mistaken it as so. It was different than the lively dancing outside the room, but she felt comforted knowing the only person seeing this was Gilbert. 

Just Gilbert.

As their giggles and energy died down, he pulled her to his chest, sighing softly in content. They swayed for a while in the dimly lit room.

Anne opened her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows, “Why is this room empty?” She asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s a storage room.”

“Do you think we’re allowed to be in here?” She inquired.

Gilbert thought about it before she felt him shrug. “Maybe not.”

She chuckled, “If we get caught I’m blaming you.”

“Aunt Jo will understand, we’re practically best friends now.”

Anne quirked an eyebrow up in amusement. “Oh really?”

“Yeah. We went out to the bar, had a few laughs over some drinks.”

She playfully rolled her eyes, “You’re hilarious.”

He grinned, “I know.”

They fell into a comfortable silence once more. Anne closed her eyes as she listened to Gilbert’s quickening heartbeat, memorizing the tempo like a song. Gilbert glanced down at her with a soft expression. As if Anne could sense it, she propped her chin up on his chest to look up at him as well, sharing small smiles.

“You really do look gorgeous,” he felt himself compelled to note. 

He could practically feel her blush. “If we’re being totally honest here, the dress is pretty uncomfortable.”

Gilbert quirked an eyebrow in amusement. “How so?”

He felt her small shoulders shrug against his chest. “I don’t know. It feels too scandalous. And don’t get me wrong, I absolutely  _ love  _ the train, but people keep stepping over it and falling. Plus, my breasts hurt a lot.”

“I can help you out on the last one,” Gilbert shrugged nonchalantly.

Anne playfully hit his chest, “You cad.”

“I’m serious,” he said huskily, leaning down to whisper in her ear, “and besides, didn’t you say you planned on me going crazy seeing you like this?”

All coherent thoughts on how to breathe properly left her mind when his husky voice sent goosebumps down her skin. His hands traveled down the expanse of her back tantalizingly slow, teasing her, and Anne took this as penance for sending him on a hunt for her earlier.

“Do you want to?” He asked, because of course, the poster-child for consent would be asking her this like she wasn’t always needy for him.

He didn’t move until she whispered out a ‘yes’, grinning wolfishly as he took her hand and led her out the room. With a quick peek outside to make sure no one would notice them, Gilbert quickly dashed through the house and up the stairs, Anne giggling to herself as he dragged her behind him. They ran upstairs like teenagers, young and running away from the party for some alone time. It wasn’t until they reached the hallway that Gilbert had no idea where his room was and Anne had to take the lead. They laughed as they ran down the hall, careful to avoid the various podiums and statues littered along the wall.

When they reached a room near the end of the hall away from people, Gilbert didn’t give her time to search for her keys before turning her around and smashing their mouths together. If anyone occupied the rooms around them, they would’ve definitely heard their insatiable moans for each other as their hands wandered everywhere. 

Anne pulled away to quickly dish the key out from her breasts and Gilbert’s eyebrows shot up in a form of a question since their brains were unable to remember any word from the English language. She just smiled and shrugged, quickly turning the key in the lock, grabbing Gilbert by the collar of his shirt and throwing him in the room after her.

Just like earlier in the dark room, Gilbert pinned her against the door as he kissed her thoroughly. Anne tugged his tuxedo off and he flung it mindlessly to the other side of the room before she made her way with the button of his white shirt. He didn’t let her rip the shirt off after she finished unbuttoning and he picked her up, wrapping her smooth legs around his waist before walking backwards until the back of his thighs hit a soft cushion and he fell backward. 

It didn’t occur to either of them in the moment that they had most likely left the door unlocked, but if anyone had the misfortune of walking in, they would hardly give them their time of day.

They were so consumed with one another, so desperately obsessed with the way the other felt against them. Anne’s nails raked over his chest and he let out a guttural groan as she sat up in his lap. Gilbert took his time to appreciate her- abused lips, messed up makeup, hair askew and skin flushed, yet still look as absolutely beautiful as he always knew. 

She moved her dress so her core could sit on the bulge through his pants. Only one roll of her hips and he swore he was gone for her. He moved stray locks of hair away from her face as she rolled her hips again. 

Anne was nearly embarrassed about the moan that left her when his hands smoothed over her exposed leg at her slit, but the overwhelming feeling she felt when he rubbed her core through the bodysuit didn’t let her. That set Gilbert into motion, sitting up so she was in his lap and digging his face into the swells of her breasts he had been dying to put his face between since he saw her. Those freckles that dotted her chest were even more alluring than the sparkles of Anne’s dress. 

She tugged on his hair as he tried to force the top of her dress down, pouting like a kicked puppy when it refused to do so after multiple tries. 

Anne laughed at him and moved so she could pull his head up to look at her. “There’s a zipper in the back.”

He frowned, “It would’ve been so cool if it worked.”

She rolled her eyes playfully. He moved his arms around her as his hands struggled to find the zipper, grinning against her chest when he found it and tugged it down. He moved the top of her dress to pool around her wips, licking his lips before diving back to her breasts. Anne mewled when he took her breasts in his mouth and lavished them. His tongue swirled her areola and she felt compelled to roll her hips against him again, making him bite on her nipple and shock and causing her to hiss.

Gilbert stopped and glanced up at her worriedly. “Shit I didn’t mean to do that. Are you-”

He didn’t finish when Anne got off him and grabbed his hands to help tug her dress all the way down, leaving her gloriously naked and Gilbert aghast.

“Y-You weren’t wearing underwear?” His voice squeaked as his hands wandered over her body. She grinned, trailing his hand down to the mound of red hair at the apex of her thighs.

“Are you mad?” She asked with a head tilt.

Gilbert only growled at the action and pulled her down on the bed, moving to hover over her. He quickly threw his shirt and pants off him as Anne sat up on her elbows, watching him with an amused quirk of an eyebrow.

He dived back down to kiss her languidly until his mind and body froze. Anne pulled off and looked up at him worriedly. “What’s wrong?” It almost hurt to break the kiss but the pure devastation on Gilbert’s face was a good enough excuse to permit it.

“I didn’t bring a condom.” he explained, a hint of frustration at himself in his voice.

Anne threw her head back on the bed and covered her eyes with her elbow in equal self deprecation. “Fuck, I didn’t either.”

Gilbert groaned and fell languidly on top of her. “It was going to be so good, too,” he muttered in self-wallow.

“Why don’t we just call someone and ask?” She offered.

Gilbert scoffed against her breasts, “And risk a lifetime of embarrassment? Pass.”

She situated herself on her elbows so she could look down at him, “I’m on the pill, if that helps at all.”

“You should be fully aware at this point that I absolutely refuse to have sex without a condom,” he said exasperatedly.

Anne rolled her eyes, “Fine, I’m clean too.”

“So am I, but I won’t risk it.”

“So what do we do? Actually go down to the party when I’m literally dripping down my  _ fucking thighs _ for you?” She said stubbornly, a hint of desperation in her voice.

Gilbert wasn't sure if it was a genuine question or an offer, but he didn’t let it stop him as he grinned wickedly at her before trailing wet kisses down her body.

“ _ Oh _ **_,_ ** okay,” Anne mewled as she fell back on the bed.

Gilbert positioned his face in front of her bare core. It pleased him to know she was right, she was really dripping down her thighs for him after so little foreplay. The smell of her filled him, entrancing him closer and closer until he kissed her.

A hand gripping each of her legs wide and locked on the bed was all it took to keep her under him. That, and the eye contact made when he kissed her again, this time with tongue like he was kissing her mouth. Anne moaned and thrashed her hands around her, gripping the expensive looking bed sheets Gilbert realized they were going to mess up.

“Oh my god, fuck fuck,” she whined. “Don’t stop.”

“Never,” he growled and continued on with what he was doing.

His tongue lapped at her clit before placing longing kisses to it. Anne felt tears threaten to spill down her face. She choked out a moan when he licked stripes from her clit to her entrance and back. Gilbert was adamant on making her cum as many times as she could that night, and even with the absence of a condom he was still determined to make his wishes come true.

When he pulled away, panting breathlessly, Anne nearly cried and sat up. “Wh-what-“ The fingers rubbing her core as he sat on his knees in front of her rendered her speechless.

“The poem,” he pleaded desperately. “Say the poem.”

Anne furrowed her eyebrows in confusion down at him, “What?”

“The poem you said tonight. The poem you said up on the stage. The poem you said to  _ me,  _ say it again.”

He wasn’t forcing her to, wasn’t giving her an ultimatum, he was just so desperate to hear her say it again.

“Please Anne. I want- I  _ need  _ this.”

Anne didn’t know how he expected her to form any proper sentence, let alone a whole poem. But she didn’t know how to say no to him, especially when he was making her feel so  _ good _ .

“‘Yes,’ I answer you last night, ‘No!’ this morning, sir, I say.” She gasped when his mouth latched onto her wet core again, but he gently tapped her leg to signal her to continue. 

“Colors, seen by candlelight, will not look the same by day.”

Her head fell down when two fingers impaled her entrance and started thrusting into her. His other hand wrapped around the small of her back to keep her sitting up. With a heavy swallow, she forced herself to go on.

“When the tabors played their best, lamps above, and laughs below- love me sounded like a jest, fit for yes or for for no.”

She cried out when another finger joined in and started pounding into her. Her legs shook around Gilbert and the extra ministrations with his tongue on her folds was almost too much for her. She tugged on his curls as she let out a small cry.

But frustration grew when she felt him slow down. He moved his lips to soft, slow kisses that weren’t nearly enough for her at her moment of desperation. It was then she realized while he wasn’t necessarily giving her an ultimatum, he was in fact rewarding her with every line she announced, and if she couldn’t bring it to herself to do so, well, she would regret it when she’d be left wet and wanting.

“Call me false or call me free.” She cried when his quick pace returned. “Vow whatever light may shine.” Her breath grew heavy and she started panting. Her legs began shaking as she felt the white heat of an impending orgasm creep up on her. “Oh my god.”

He twisted his fingers in her and lapped at her clit. She made a noise that was a mix between a whine and a cry as his long fingers impaled her. Her hands gripped his curls as she continued speaking:

“No man on your face shall see, any grief for change on mine.” A small whimper escaped her and she bit her lip in agony. “Yet the sin is on us both, time to dance is not to woo- wooer light makes fickle troth, scorn of me recolis-  _ oh my god _ .”

Her body began moving restlessly and she would’ve fallen back on the bed had Gilbert not tightened his grip around her hip. A sharp feeling in her snapped, and her orgasm hit from her core all the way up to her lungs, rendering her unable to breath as she cried out Gilbert’s name. The feel of her slick heat clutching at his fingers as she orgasmed only made him growl and desperately thrust into her again. 

“Ah, ah, oh my god Gilbert, oh my god,” she babbled incoherently as she fell over Gilbert, gripping his hair so hard she was scared it would fall out.

Gilbert finally pulled his fingers out and licked her through her orgasm, but his plan to make her come until she couldn’t walk was still on the table. So instead of letting her bounce back, Gilbert picked her off the bed carefully so his mouth didn’t leave her. Anne yelped as he stood up with her hips around his face. She gripped his neck and shoulders like an anchor. His tongue didn’t stop even as he blindly walked them to the carpet, clutching her ass to keep her to him. His tongue collected her orgasm as he prayed his years of football endurance and strength would prove worthwhile enough for him to carry her. 

When he felt the soft feel of the carpet under his feet, he gently laid down on the ground and clutched her ass to keep her hips down on him so she was now riding his face. Anne moaned, still sensitive from her orgasm.

“Go on.” His tone could’ve tricked anyone into thinking he was demanding, but Anne knew as he attacked her wet core he was only desperate and impatient.

Anne’s chest heaved as she continued. “Learn to win a lady’s faith nobly, as the thing is high.” The symptoms of a second impending orgasm hit her only moments after her first one. “Bravely, as for life and death, with a loyal gravity. Lead her from the festive boards,” she panted as she rested her hands back on his chest, feeling absolutely sinful at the new position. “Point her to the starry skies, guard her, by your truthful words, pure from courtship’s flatteries.”

The lewd rapidness at which his tongue fucked into her brought on her second orgasm. She cried out again as her hips rode his face like a horse. The only thing that kept her down was his big hands leaving their mark on her ass and hips.

Just like earlier, Gilbert sucked her through her orgasm and teethed her clit, making her scream and try to arch her hips deeper into his mouth; and just like earlier on stage, Gilbert opened his eyes to meet Anne’s. She gasped softly at his glazed hazel eyes as he stared at her in awe. 

“By your truth she shall be true, ever true, as wives of yore.” Just as she felt her second orgasm leave her, his thumb rubbing her sensitive clit made her cum again. Tears fell down her face and she was sure her ruined makeup made her look like a mess, but the awe in his eyes didn’t show any sign of repulsion.

But Gilbert didn’t stop, and she had a feeling he wouldn’t let her rest until she was done, too. “And her yes, once said to you.” She kept his eye as she breathed out the last sentence. “Shall be yes for evermore.”

Anne bent over him as she cried over him. His hands groped her ass as he finished drinking her elixir like he was a man dying of thirst. When he finished to satisfaction, he reluctantly let go of her hips and she arched off his mouth, both of them gasping for breath. Anne rolled over on the carpet, her body and legs still shaking from her orgasms. Gilbert wiped his mouth before rolling on his side and up to her, staring awe as Anne suffered through her afterglow. 

She clutched her thighs together as she tried to catch her breath. She looked so ethereal Gilbert was tempted to give her another orgasm and turn into a pile of mush. He stared up at her, caressing her breasts as he waited for her to finish. Anne opened her eyes to him and panted.

“You, are  _ evil _ ,” she deemed.

Gilbert could only laugh and fall on his back next to her. He tried touching her but she swatted his hand away.

“Do not touch me. I am too weak to come again,” she protested, but after careful deliberation she scooted to him so his arm could wrap her body to his chest.

Gilbert grinned lazily as his thumb drew irregular circles on her back. “You know I’m not done with you, right?”

Anne groaned and stuffed her face into his side, “How many orgasms can one have from sole foreplay?”

He grinned mischievously. “Well let’s find out.”

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this point, I have no real plan for this story. I am mostly just going along with what my fingers allow me to type. 
> 
> I know this chapter doesn’t make much sense, but I didn’t want to rush them saying they love each other. When you meet someone, it takes a while for the love to come in (unless you’re special and fell in love at first sight, which I unfortunately have never had the pleasure of doing), so I just wanted to demonstrate their growing feelings for each other from infatuation to a crush.
> 
> Hope you all like it! I love reading your comments so don’t be shy to say whatever!


	14. Your love is a secret, I’m hoping, dreaming, dying to keep

When Gilbert texted her saying he woke up late and wouldn’t be able to walk with her to Mr. Phillipp’s, she contemplated just faking sick for today.

But then her roommates forced her out of the apartment. So she begrudgingly held her head down and walked speedily to Mr. Phillipp’s.

She explained to her friends everything that happened (after they practically cornered her) with Gilbert, and they all practically cheered, with Cole praying to whatever higher power that he would never ask for anything again. 

But, then she also had to explain the aspects with Winnie. Cole was the first to show his anger, threatening that “he was a feminist but he wouldn’t mind slapping a bitch”. Sweet, sweet Ruby was only in shock and seemed like she was about to throw up. Diana was the first to come to her senses after a long period of silence.

That was how they managed to convince Anne to go talk to someone and tell on Winnie. Anne immediately said no, but after half an hour of pestering she  had  to relent. So she was going to go after class, but was not looking forward to it at all.

Mr. Phillipp’s class was in the same building as Ms. Stacy’s and Anne hoped she wouldn’t run into Gilbert after. She didn’t want to have to explain that she was going to probably ruin her life and tell the board about Winifred’s harassment if things didn’t go her way.

But she had to admit it felt weird walking without him. She felt like now the whole world was staring at her and probably thinking how much of a loner she is. But she refused to admit it was her own fault for the FaceTime she initiated that made him sleep late last night.

After they woke up Sunday morning in each other’s embrace on the carpet floor, they decided they were going to act on their feelings. No more beating around the bush, no more hesitation. They needed something to do with their confusing feelings, and although the sex was mind-blowing, it didn’t help relieve them. Neither of them knew what would happen from it but they needed clarification, and it seemed like this was the only way they could get it.

Anne hardly realized she appeared in front of Mr. Phillipp’s classroom until she blinked furiously to cut herself from her daydream. It’s not that she didn’t want to go in, she just had no idea what to expect. She had barely heard anything about this professor even though he’d been here for a while. Maybe he was one of those teachers that’s nice enough but have no real impact on student’s. She shivered at the thought, thinking she’d rather quit her dreams altogether then become like him.

She knocked on the door and heard shuffling before a tall man with a menacing aura opened the door, furrowing his eyebrows at her.

“Class doesn’t start for another 30 minutes,” he remarked and tried to close the door until Anne has to quickly grab it.

“Oh no, I’m Anne Shirley-Cuthbert. Your T.A.,” she explained with a polite grin.

His eyebrows furrowed even more until he muttered something under his breath, motioning for her to come in after him. The classroom was the same format as Ms. Stacy’s, yet it still felt off in a way that Anne couldn’t put her finger on.

Mr. Phillipp’s sat himself in his chair and continued on with some papers. Anne stood awkwardly to the side. It was like he had completely forgotten about her in a span of three seconds.

Anne clearer her throat, “Excuse me, is there anything you need me to do?”

He let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed his forehead, “If I had, wouldn’t I have told you?”

Her face fell, “Y-yes.”

“I’ll notify you when I have something,” he waved her off.

Anne glanced around, a small unease forming in her stomach when she realized there was no table for her to sit. So she sat in the first row, the seat closest to the aisle. She sat patiently in her seat and took her laptop out. The hands on the clock seemed to move at a menacingly slow pace as she waited for something, anything to happen. 

Then the first few students showed up, and Mr. Phillips hardly gave them a second look. It wasn’t until the class was full and Mr. Phillips stood up from the desk that she realized she wasn’t going to get to do anything. It took her approximately six minutes to realize he was one of those teachers who had their T.A. sit there and feel awkward the entire class. That would’ve been any other kids dream, but it wasn’t hers.

So time passed and by the end of the class Anne noticed a couple things: One, Mr. Phillips was  not  a good teacher based on his poor ability to understand the lessons. Two, he was too strict for anyone’s liking, as shown by the scowl and verbal berate of a student who sneezed one too many times. And three, he was fairly, utterly sexist.

Whenever a girl would raise her hand, he’d only call on them to criticize them for not understanding the lesson. When a girl would call an answer out, he’d refer to another guy in the class who would repeat the exact answer she’d give and congratulate him. It was as if Mr. Phillips was fuming at the idea that women had the audacity to even speak in his class.

When it was finally over and people began to leave, Mr. Phillips called Anne over to his desk.

She gave an innocent smile as he looked up, eyeing her up and down. Chills coursed through her spine at the menacing gaze, especially as he slowly stood up and towered over her small frame.

“You said your name was Anne Shirley-Cuthbert?” He examined her.

Anne tried taking a step back but couldn’t find it in herself to move,. “Yes,” she replied curtly.

“The same Anne Shirley-Cuthbert I’ve heard scandalous rumors about?”

She felt her heart drop and she swallowed dryly. “Whatever you heard, I can assure you it is  not  true in any way. It has no reflection upon me or my abilities to help you assist the class-“

“You know, I was told I was getting different assistant,” he noted. “One who’s reputation doesn’t picture them in such a vulgar light. Regardless,” he sighed, “I seem to have no choice. So all I will say is that I don’t feel comfortable having someone with such little morals help with my class.”

“But-“

“If I am seemingly desperate, I will assign you something. But for now, you can sit down, look pretty, go on with your private lifestyle, I don’t care. Just don’t bother me anymore,” he said firmly.

Anne wanted to ask him  How dare you?  and yell, but she couldn’t feel anything but numb inside.

Mr. Phillips glances up at her before motioning with his finger to the door. “You may leave.”

She snapped out of her thoughts, quickly collecting her stuff before walking with shaky legs out of the room. 

“Hey.”

The familiar voice belonging to the person leaning against the wall next to the door scared Anne, making her jump and clutch her chest.

“God,” she said breathily.

Gilbert grinned, swinging an arm over her shoulders before walking down the hall. He was tempted to lean down and kiss her but didn’t want to cross a line on PDA now that they were sort of, kinda together, even though they’ve practically jumped over it.

“How was class?” Gilbert asked. Anne kept her gaze on the ground in front of them and he poked her side. “Are you okay?” He asked.

She snapped her head up at him and feigned a small smile. “Yeah, yeah I’m good.”

He frowned, pushing the door open and leading her outside, “You don’t seem fine. Was he that bad?”

Anne bit the inside of her cheek as she scoffed, “Well, he was certainly not what I expected,” she muttered bitterly.

Gilbert was quiet for a minute before squeezing her body with his arm. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

She contemplated saying ‘no’, but she desperately needed to get it out of her system.

“Mr. Phillips is just so...ugh! How can someone be so misogynistic and critical in the 21st century? I thought we’ve gotten to the point of men at least respecting a woman’s ability to be able to be knowledgeable. I should’ve known some people can only still base women on their looks or personal life rather than their abilities to do good.”

“So he’s a sexist piece of shit?” Gilbert summarized and she nodded. 

“Do you know what he said to me?” She scoffed. “He told me he doesn’t want me to do anything to help. He said I can just ‘sit there and look pretty’, or whatever the hell that means! As if I’m going to let him try and narrow me, or any other woman, down to just their beauty.” She felt her eyes begin to water but sniffled to try and hold them back. “And the way he looked at me, like I was some piece of meat and-and talking to me like...I just felt so small and inferior. I- fuck. I don’t know.”

Gilbert was quiet. His eyebrows were knitted together and his jaw was clenched as Anne looked up at him with a confused expression.

“You know you’re allowed to say something, right?” She nudged, trying to change the atmosphere.

He nodded once, tightening his arm around her. But he didn’t say anything, only bending down to kiss her soundly, bringing them to a halt in their path.

When he pulled away, she had a blissful smile in her face. “What brought that on?”

He gave a sad smile and shrugged, “You just seemed like you needed it.”

Anne bit her bottom lip as a blush crept on her face. He pulled her back to him as they kept walking, Anne dropping her head with an impending smile when she realized people were watching them.

“I’m sorry,” he said, looking down at her.

She shook her head, “Don’t be. You didn’t do anything.”

”I’m going to give him a good punch,” his jaw muscle tended and she rolled her eyes.

”How long are you going to punch someone in my honor?”

“Until they give you the respect you deserve,” he said quickly before shaking his head. “You don’t deserve any of that, any of  this .” He didn’t elaborate, but he didn’t need to. They both knew what he meant.

But then she remembered what she promised herself she would do after class. Her face fell and she swallowed.

“Hey um, you go ahead,” she said, untangling herself from under him.

Gilbert frowned, “You’re not going back to your place?”

“No,” she shook her head. “I, um, have something I need to do.”

He didn’t prod, and she was entirely grateful for that. “Go ahead, I have something to do too.” 

“Please tell me you aren’t going to punch him.”

Gilbert smirked, “Don’t worry, I won’t.” She sighed in relief and he pauses for a moment before kissing her forehead, walking backwards until he gave a small salute and turned around back to his place.

Anne could still feel the tingle of his lips on her skin and couldn’t help the red rushing to her face. They’d kissed more times than she’d admit, but this time felt different. It made her feel safe and happy, a feeling she hadn’t felt all day. But as quickly as it came it went away when she started walking to the student office. She couldn’t imagine what would happen if this didn’t work. Winifred would somehow manage to make everything even worse. But as she found herself only a few steps away from the entrance, she breathed deeply before forcing herself to enter, bracing herself for whatever would fall in her lap.

~•~•~•

At night, Anne practically jumped out of her skin when she saw an email from the student center. 

They told her earlier that day that they’d talk to her soon, but she thought there was no way they’d be in contact  this  soon.

She braced herself before opening up the email. But she frowned when she skimmed it and realized it was nothing about her complaint today. She forced herself to slow down before reading the entire email over, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion as she read it over and over again.

“What?” She asked herself silently.

She immediately closed out of the email and texted Gilbert.

[ANNE]: Hey did you get an email too?

[GILBERT]: Yep I got it too 

[ANNE]: What is that all about?

[GILBERT]: You can’t be mad at me for this

[GILBERT]: But I asked for us to switch classes

Anne’s eyes widened as she furiously typed out:

[ANNE]: Why tf would you do that??

[GILBERT]: Because you were upset 

[ANNE]: But Ms. Stacy chose you fair and square 

[GILBERT]: If your experience in that class for the rest of the year is anything like today, I’d be a terrible person to let you go through it again

[ANNE]: It wasn’t that bad

[GILBERT]: He almost made you cry Anne

[GILBERT]: Anne?

[GILBERT]: Are you mad? 

Anne didn’t know how to tell him she was tempted to type out “I love you” to him for some odd reason. She bit her bottom lip as her thumb hovered over her keyboard, before she finally type:

[ANNE]: I don’t know how to thank you

[GILBERT]: Are you naked?

[ANNE]: Goodnight Gil

And with that she turned her phone off before she could type out those three words that filled her brain, but made her smile giddily to herself, Gilbert being the last person on to occupy her mind as she drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just finished writing this and I think there is definitely room for rewriting but I’m too tired and I felt bad that I haven’t updated in a bit. 
> 
> But I hope you enjoy it! Here’s a (kinda) cute one :)
> 
> Leave a comment and kudos! Thank you!


	15. Call it what you want

Ms. Stacy made no note of discussing the switch the rest of the week, only greeting Anne happily on Tuesday and taking her through the course plan for the next few days. On one hand, Anne was grateful her teacher didn’t say anything to avoid the embarrassment of having been so clearly rejected not a few days earlier. But on the other, she couldn’t help the small voice in her head telling her _“_ _ Is she upset that Gilbert left?” “Did she really not want me here?” “Stop overthinking, Anne. You’re giving yourself a headache.” _

Luckily, time flew by quicker than she’d anticipated and before she knew it she was leaving class to go back home and get ready for the football game that night. 

She wouldn’t admit it, but she frowned sadly when she didn’t see Gilbert leaning against the opposite wall as she left class. It had become routine for them- mostly him, as Anne was slow at packing up and he’d manage to appear a few minutes before she’d even exit the door everyday- and seeing the area devoid of him made her sigh sadly before walking back by herself. It’s not like she could blame him, he told her he’d have to go right to the stadium to practice. 

Anne hated to be clingy, but she missed him. His comforting hugs and warm embrace, that stupid laugh he’d do when he made fun of her, his eyes.

_ God she missed staring into those eyes and trying to figure out what new color, dream, and future it’d show her all in one like a crystal ball. _

Later at the game, Anne was wearing his letterman jacket over simple leggings and an oversized pink knitted sweater to combat the chilly wind. She was waiting against the stadium entrance after receiving multiple texts from Gilbert to come meet him before the game. 

But he wasn’t here. And she missed him. And she was  _ cold _ .

She shivered and wrapped the jacket tighter around her body. There were people loitering around but most of them were inside in the seats, all bunched up together, warm and cozy. She glanced down at the time on her phone, groaning. 

She hated herself for being so whipped for him she was willing to forgo a wool blanket Cole brought in favor of Gilbert Blythe. But when she saw him walking towards her, she felt just as giddy as she did when she saw his texts.

Gilbert grinned like an idiot as he walked towards her. She couldn’t help but smile too. She missed him and his annoyingly warm atmosphere encompassing her, but she absolutely loved how  good  he looked in his uniform as he approached her. It was nothing but excess padding and mismatched colors, but throw anything on him and he’d be able to make it look like it belonged on a runway. She wanted nothing more than to rip those off herself and take him right there in the entrance of the stadium. She nearly forgot how easy it was for him to read her, blushing furiously when she caught his eye and saw he was grinning at her.

“What are you thinking about?” He teased, leaning his shoulder against the wall and crossing his arms, his helmet dangling from his hand.

Anne stuck her chin up, “Just that you need to get your ass back out there and win us this game.”

Gilbert quirked an eyebrow, “Since when did you care about football?”

“I don’t. But I can’t be known now as the girlfriend of the guy who made us lose because he was too busy flirting.”

He chuckled, “I’d rather spend the whole game out here talking with you. Less sweat,” he shrugged.

She wanted to roll her eyes to tell him that was the cheesiest thing she’s ever heard and to go back out there, but that would’ve meant he would actually relent in her persistence and do just what she says.

Sometimes she wished he would stop listening to her. 

Her nose sniffled as wind blew past them and her nose started to redden up.

“Have I mentioned how cute you look?” Gilbert stepped closer, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“This jacket makes me look something, but it is  not  cute,” she said stubbornly, making him only think she was even cuter.

“I beg to differ,” he shrugged.

She glared at him, using the loose part of the sleeve to smack his arm, “Why do you have to be so big and tall? I guarantee if you weren’t so humongous I would fit into this jacket better.”

“It looks perfect on you just the way it is,” Gilbert said sincerely. “Also, did you just call me big?”

She smacked him again and he laughed. Suddenly, the roaring of the crowds got louder, making them both turn their heads to the stadium before turning back to each other.

Anne smiled, “Go kick some ass, or score a touchdown. I don’t know, I don’t care, just go win.”

Gilbert smirked before bending down, resting his hands on his knees so they were eye level. A wave of comfort washed over her when she looked into his hazel eyes, her expression softening in almost an instant.

“I’ll see you after?” He whispered.

“Only if you win.”

“I can’t guarantee anything, Shirley.”

“I don’t care. Go out there and win,” she pursed her lips. “For me.”

That seemed to make Gilbert grin. He bent down for a feverish kiss before pulling back before Anne could even process what had happened, fixing his helmet over his head.

“For good luck,” he shrugged innocently, walking backwards with a grin plastered on his face before turning around and run into the stadium.

Anne brushed her fingers over her lips, giggling to herself as she paired that feeling with his eyes. Those hazel ones that lingered in her mind before he turned around and disappeared.

_I see happiness and love in your future_ , she swore those eyes told her.

~•~•~

“Do you know what’s happening?” Ruby inquired.

Anne glanced at the game and simply shrugged, “Couldn’t tell you.”

“All I know is that a particular someone’s boyfriend looks really good in that uniform,” Cole muttered and Anne nudged him. “Hey, how do you even know I was talking about you? I could’ve easily been referring to Jerry.”

“Except that Jerry and I aren’t together,” Diana interrupted.

Anne eyed her, “That jacket with his last name on your back begs to differ.”

“Oh hush,” she waved them off. “Go ogle at your boyfriend.”

Suddenly cheers erupted from their side and Anne looked around, feeling the need to clap before directing her attention back to her friend. “We aren’t technically boyfriend and girlfriend yet,” she admitted softly.

Cole quirked an eyebrow at that before frowning, “But I thought you said-“

“I mean  _technically_ we are in the eyes of everyone else, but he never asked me,” Anne took her bottom lip between her teeth as she began to overthink everything. Was there a reason he hadn’t asked her? They technically implied they were  together  together, but he never asked. Never made it official. Did he not feel the same way as she did? Was he just lying to her to make her feel better about herself? She felt dumb for even thinking she was in love with him all those days ago when he probably didn’t feel as strongly as she did.

Diana noticed her inner dilemma and quickly shook her head, “Don’t worry, Anne. He’s probably waiting for a good time to ask you.”

Anne swallowed dryly, giving an unconvincing smile as the stands started to erupt into screams of encouragement. She groaned as she stood up and saw someone running towards the opponent’s end zone, barely any time left on the clock. But her breath caught when she realized the number on the back of the uniform belonged to only one person- her Gilbert.

Immediately her excitement grew and she joined the crowd in screaming encouragements. It felt like forever until he finally reached the end zone right when the buzzer went off, and their side of the stands erupted into cheers. 

She felt nothing but pure joy as she saw Gilbert tear his helmet off and get jumped in congratulations by his teammates. A warm smile overtook her as they lifted him off his feet, carrying him back down the field. It wasn’t until the crowd of players started to come her way did she realize they were all looking in her general area, Gilbert’s eyes and smile fixed on her. 

Even in the sea of people, he still somehow found her.

When they got close enough, he pointed at her.

“Me?” Anne pointed to herself and mouthed.

He nodded furiously and she gaped in mortification. She was about to shake her head until the people around her started pushing her towards the stairs. She glared at her friends over her shoulders, who only grinned and exclaimed in response, before shyly walking down the steps to the edge of the railing.

She gripped the edge and leaned her body over, looking down at Gilbert who was staring up at her like he was in a blissful dream he never wanted to wake up from.

“What are you doing?” She said loudly.

He grinned, nudging the people holding him to raise him higher until the top of his head reached just at her nose.

Anne shook her head, “You’re an  _ idiot _ .”

That only made him smile more and reached up to gently pull her lips down until they were touching, the stadium erupting in cheers. Even the football players Anne was nearly a hundred percent sure tried to bed her cheered from below, but she didn’t care. Their lips stayed glued until Gilbert nearly dropped a foot lower, almost bringing Anne down with him. She giggled as they pulled away, but he kept his eyes glazed on her as the team walked them back to the field, giving a small wave that he mirrored by blowing a kiss.

Anne brushed her thumb over her lips again, smiling to herself. 

I see happiness and love in your future.

_Maybe she was starting to believe that_.

~•~•~

The hype slowly died down as the hour passed and she was leaning against the outside of the stadium, waiting for Gilbert to appear.

It was weird when people showed up and fawning about the scene to her. It felt nice blushing about this with other people, even if they were with random people. 

When Moody exited, Ruby immediately grinned and walked up to him. She wasn’t wearing his jersey like Diana and her were, but Anne couldn’t help but feel they were something more than “just friends” her friend claimed not the day before. Anne gave Diana a knowing look when Jerry appeared not long after. Diana only subtly flipped her off before walking over to him and dragging him away to who knows where. Cole had already left with Roy to get drunk, and now she was left waiting for Gilbert.

She stared down at her feet until she heard a cacophony of cheers, snapping her head up and grinning when she saw Gilbert walking out. He was met with pats on the back, and even raves from cheerleaders. 

Anne didn’t mind, really. He was attractive and popular, of course girls would come up to him. Hell, the reason she first kissed him against the wall all those weeks ago was because of his terrifyingly good looks. So when he looked around, grinning when he caught her eye before excusing himself from the crowd, she felt a sense of pride knowing he had eyes for her in a sea of 10’s.

Gilbert walked up to her, bending down to peck her lips before pulling back. “Hi,” he said breathily.

“Hi yourself,” she smiled. “You played great out there.”

He shrugged sheepishly, “There were areas of improvement.”

“Just take the compliment, Blythe.”

“So I see we’re back to last names now?”

“One syllable, easier to say,” Anne shrugged.

“Shirley-Cuthbert is quite a mouthful though.”

“Oh, you’ll get over it.”

He eyed her up and down before his eyes rested on his jacket on her. “Maybe I could just call you ‘Blythe’, too.”

Anne’s heart immediately picked up tempo like she was going up a rollercoaster, the adrenaline rush and absolute fear coursing over her as her mouth slightly gaped.

Gilbert seemed to realize the implications, and scratched the back of his neck with a nervous chuckle.

She looked away to hide her blush, “Anne works too.”

He grinned, “Good.” Then he swung an arm over her, tugging her closer to his side as they walked over to his car. “So, about that little stunt today...”

Anne sighed, “It was cute, I’ll admit that. But...I don’t know. Why would you do all that for a girl you’re not even dating?”

Gilbert frowned, “What do you mean?”

“I mean that everyone already knows we’re together, you didn’t need to do that to convince them anymore,” she explained as he left her to go to the driver’s seat.

He furrowed his eyebrows together in confusion as he threw his duffle bag in the backseat before resting his forearms on the top of his car. “Well I didn’t do it for them, I did it for you.”

She pursed her lips together before releasing them, sighing to herself. She couldn’t stop the words tumbling out of her mouth before she could think, asking “Are we officially boyfriend and girlfriend?” quickly.

Gilbert’s eyebrows shot up before it fell, his face filled with amusement. “I thought we were,” he chuckled lightly.

“Well we said we’d figure things out, we never made it official,” Anne sighed. “

He motioned for her to continue, “So...have you?”

“Have I what?”

“Figured out what you want us to be.” His eyes were filled with hope as he watched her bite her lip from the other side of the car.

“Well...I mean the sex is good,” she said sheepishly and he chuckled. “But it’s not just that. I-I think you make me happy. And I like you. And I want to make us official, for real.”

The corners of Gilbert’s lips tilted up into a goofy grin. “Have I seriously not asked you out yet?” He teased. Anne suppressed a smile and shook her head. Gilbert clicked his tongue, rapping his knuckles against the roof of the car. “Well, Anne Shirley, will you-“

“You are not asking me to be your girlfriend in the middle of a parking lot.”

He pouted, “It’s not about the setting Shirley, it’s about the sentimental value.”

“There is nothing sentimental about a parking lot with drunk college students everywhere,” she noted.“I want a cute date-proposal.”

“Have I told you how hot you are when you’re demanding?”

“Flattery will only get you so far.”

“True, I’ve already slept with you anyways,” he shrugged and laughed at her glare. “Well you’re just going to have to wait, Shirley. But don’t fret, I’ll be sure to make it epic.”

“How are you going to manage to top that little stunt you pulled today?” 

“Oh trust me, I will,” he grinned before they got in the car, backing out of the spot and driving off, his right hand slapping around for Anne’s to intertwine them and making her skin flush. 

A couple minutes later, she felt her phone ping and removed her hand momentarily to check her notification. Her heart stopped when she read the subject and immediately clicked into the email. It was from the Student Office and they’d finally gotten back to her about her complaint. A small smile tugged on her face until she had to cover her mouth to stifle a happy cry.

They were going to call them both in and probably take disciplinary actions against Winifred.

“So, how do you wanna celebrate my glorious win?” Gilbert asked, snapping her out of her daze. “Maybe something with just us two? Preferably without clothes?” He teased with a chuckle, glancing over at Anne but frowning when he saw her teary expression. “Shit, is everything okay?” 

Anne bit her bottom lip, a quiet, happy sob leaving her before she leaned over and pecked his cheek. She could make note of the faint blush on his face even through her teary eyes.

“I didn’t know you were gonna be  that  happy that I won,” he chuckled, taking her hand again.

She didn’t reply but smiled and squeezed his hand, turning to the window as he occasionally brought her hand up to his lips for a kiss. For the first time in a while, Anne felt content and happy, like everything in the universe was finally going to go her way. 

_ I see happiness and love in your future. _

There was no way to know if it was true, but that look in Gilbert’s eyes made her so sure. People could call or whatever they want, but she knew he would be making her feel this happy for a lot longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was just fluff because I put Anne through too much hell it’s the least she deserves. Also I had no idea how to write this chapter because I had a plan, but when I started writing it went the total opposite direction. And I know this chapter is really bad and it’s obvious I don’t know where I’m going with this story bur bare with me please!
> 
> Thank you for reading and leave a kudos and a comment!!


	16. Is it cool that I said all that?

“Do you even know me? I wouldn’t even show up.”

“Come on, I thought girls loved that whole dinner and a movie date.”

“They’re boring for a first date. I want something fun and spontaneous but still relaxing and intimate at the same time, you know? Something where we won’t have to sit in silence for two hours.”

Gilbert rolled his eyes, “Okay fine, you plan it then.”

“Excuse me, what kind of guy makes their girlfriend plan the first date?”

“Guys that aren’t dating Anne Shirley-Cuthbert.”

“I can’t tell if you two are adorable or annoying,” a voice muttered from the seat neighboring Anne and she turned to glare at Cole. “I’m just saying!” He argued defensively.

Anne and Gilbert decided to spend their free afternoon just chilling out until Gilbert jokingly mentioned how he hadn’t planned their first date yet. Anne, never one to take something so serious in a joking matter, pulled out a notebook to store their ideas. She divided a page in half, making a “Good” column and a “Bad” one.

So far, all seven ideas were in the “Bad” column.

Gilbert stole the notebook from her and clicked his tongue. “I thought camping would be a good idea!”

“It would be if either of us had any of the equipment to do so and weren’t deathly scared of getting eaten by a bear.” Anne snatched the notebook back. “Look, I’m not trying to put any pressure on you, but if this date sucks I will dump you.”

“A date is only what you make of it, regardless of time or place. So if it ends up failing, that’s more fault on your part.”

“Trust me, Blythe. I’ve been on many,  many  terrible dates and if this manages to top any of them, you will never hear from me again.”

Gilbert furrowed his eyebrows, “How many dates exactly have you been on?”

“Hey, don’t get jealous and try to change the subject.”

“That’s it, I’m out of here. Have fun ruining your relationship,” Cole stood up from the table, giving the two a half-hearted middle finger before strutting out the cafe.

Anne rolled her eyes, “I don’t even know why he was here.”

“Anne,” Gilbert leaned over to take her small hand in his and she looked over at him. “What’s wrong?”

She frowned a little, “Nothing’s wrong.”

“You seem more frustrated than usual.”

“I’m always frustrated,” Anne argued, flickering her gaze down to her coffee to avoid Gilbert’s eye.

She hadn’t told him about Winifred, not even when they both were asked for a meeting in front of the Student Board. Anne didn’t want to jinx anything, but she had enough evidence to prove Winifred was guilty and hoped she would have to leave soon.

Gilbert didn’t say anything further. Which made Anne feel both relieved and guilty as she bit her bottom lip.

He sighed, “How about a night in? We can stay in a hotel, take advantage of room service, take advantage of  each other -“

“You want to spend our first date having sex?”

“Only if you do, I’d never push you to do anything you don’t want.”

Anne swallowed dryly, fumbling with the edges of the notebook paper. “Well, it’s not that I don’t want to, per se. It’s just that we started our relationship with....that. Not to mention the fact that we argued over something every week and I have a theory that it’s somehow tied to our ‘friends with benefits’ title. I want to start fresh, build our relationship on something new without sex involved.”

Gilbert’s expression softened as she finished. “I can work with that.”

Anne’s face lit up, “Really? You’re not mad?”

“Of course not. If you want to go a month without sex, or even a year, so be it.” 

The corner of her lips turned up and she leaned against the table to peck his lips. He grinned against her lips and pulled her in for a loving one, basking in each other until an abrupt cough from nearby made them fall back into their chairs and blush.

Gilbert quickly cleared his throat and collected himself. “So, have you decided on something yet?”

Anne bit her bottom lip before sighing, “I don’t know. I’m sorry, I’m being so high-maintenance. I promise I’m not usually like this.”

Gilbert let out a single cough as he took a sip of his drink, earning a glare from Anne.

“I’ve known you for a while, Anne, and I can tell assure you that you are usually like this. But it’s cute.”

Anne rolled her eyes, “You’re terrible, as shown by your horrific date ideas. Really Gilbert? A military obstacle course?”

“To be fair, I only did that as a joke.”

Anne shook her head at him before deciding to just shut it close, resting her arms on the table. “You know what? Just surprise me.”

Gilbert looked confused. “Really?”

She nodded, “Yes. Surprise me with anything you didn’t already suggest.”

“I feel like this is a trap.”

Anne rolled her eyes again, “ _No_ . Just...surprise me with something, anything. It’s the least I can do after going all dictatorial the past hour.”

“It’s adorable when you’re like this,” Gilbert leaned forward so his face was hardly a couple inches from hers. “And I promise I’ll think of something that’ll blow your mind away.”

Anne smiled, “You promise?”

Gilbert propped his elbow on the table and stuck his pinkie finger out. “I pinky promise.”

Anne giggled before latching her pinky with his. He tightened the grip and pulled her in to peck her lips, leaving with her with that pink flush on her face when he pulled back. He glanced down at his watch before sighing. 

“We’ve been here for too long. We gotta leave or else they’re gonna come over and kick us out or tell us to buy something,” Gilbert grabbed his coffee and stood up, maneuvering over to Anne’s side to hold his hand out.

She glanced up at him before taking it. “So gentleman-y.”

“Shut up,” he muttered shyly and Anne chuckled. 

It was noticeably colder as they exited the cafe. Anne immediately huddled into Gilbert’s space and he wrapped an arm around her tightly as they braced the wind. She made a mental note to never wear the skirt and sweater again for as long as the temperature kept dropping instead of going up.

They were halfway towards her apartment building when they heard a shout of Anne’s name. Somehow, the shrill in the voice managed to make her freeze more than the cold wind.

Gilbert muttered a curse under his breath and immediately tried to tug Anne faster in the opposite direction, but Winifred’s cold heart gave her a perfect advantage in bracing the wind as she stomped over them. Gilbert immediately tried to push Anne behind him but she put a hand on his chest, motioning that it was okay.

His jaw clenched, “Anne-“

“It’s fine Gil, I got it,” Anne reassured him.

He didn’t have time to object before Winifred stalked over to them, staring daggers at Anne. “You bitch!” She cried.

Anne couldn’t tell if it was the weather that made her skin and eyes red or if she had been crying. She hated how, for some reason, she felt pity for her and swallowed dryly, having a small epiphany about what she’s probably upset about.

“You don’t get to call her that.” Gilbert tried to step forward.

Winifred snapped her gaze to him and glared, “ You  stay out of this. This is between me and your little slut.”

“Hey-“

“Gil,” Anne said softly. His eyes snapped to hers and he immediately softened, but she could tell he was still ticked from his clenched jaw. Anne calmly turned to look at Winifred, composing herself beforeasking, “What do you want?”

Winifred scoffed, “Guess what I just found out? I’m suspended. For two weeks! All because of you.”

Anne felt her heart beating rapidly. Gilbert’s arm tightening around her body made her snap back to reality. She pointedly avoided his questioning gaze, keeping her attention on Winifred.

“You should be happy that’s the only thing you got,” Anne said nonchalantly.

She swore Winifred was blowing steam from her ears. “Well, then I guess you’ll be happy to know that my parents are making me transfer to a whole different university after hearing about this,” she snarled.

Anne fought to keep her smile at bay, “Yes, that does make me happy.”

“You’re such a little bitch,” Winifred snapped. “Taking my education away from me, taking Gilbert from me. You’re a piece of shit.”

“How can you say I took them from you when you sabotaged it for yourself?”

“I told you to stay away from him. He was going to be mine, and then you came along and hooked up with him because you never know when to close your legs. You can be upset about anything I’ve done, but don’t act all high and mighty when everyone knows how much of a slut you are.”

“You need to shut up right now-“

“ _Gil_ ,” Anne said pointedly.

“Oh, look at that! He’s going to try to fight for your honor out of pity,” Winifred laughed humorlessly. “Is she  that  good in bed? Is that why you dragged her along for this long?”

“Winifred-“

“And you, Anne,” she said her name with venom in her voice. “Do you think I don’t know that you forced him to be your ‘fake boyfriend’ to convince everyone you weren’t easy? Do you think I don’t know that you don’t feel a single thing for him? I’m right Anne, just admit that, you care for nobody but yourself.”

Anne felt with every word spat out of the blonde’s mouth, her temper was getting the best of her. She unwrapped herself from Gilbert’s embrace and stood in front of Winifred, for the first time, ready for her words to hit her where she knew it would hurt.

“Listen Winifred,” Anne started lowly. “I’ve spent weeks holding in every word I’ve wanted to say to you, but now, I don’t care. I want you to know that Gilbert and I are  actually together , and I’m sorry you never got to be in my position. I’m sorry that your life didn’t turn out the way you want, but that is on no one but yourself.  _You_ threatened me,  _you_ spread those rumors about me,  _you_ nearly posted fake pictures of me,  _you_ ruined your own life. And guess what? Everything you did to try and ruin my reputation? It ended up ruining yours, How do you think people will react realizing that Winifred Rose is a jealous, manipulative liar that got herself kicked out of college? I don’t care what people think about me, because it’s all false.  Especially  your theory that I don’t care about Gilbert. I do, okay? I care about him than myself. I  _love_ him, and nothing you say will take that away. You can do anything you want, you can spread more rumors about me, hell, you can even post those photos. I don’t care, and you know why? Because that’ll say more about your own character than mine,” Anne let out a big breath before closing her eyes and opening them when she felt herself calm down. “I hope you grow up from this at your new school, Winifred. Start new, fresh, maybe be a bit nice for once. After all, you’re going to need it. What do you think your reputation will be when people realize the reason you got kicked out in the first place?” Anne took Gilbert’s arm and dragged him behind her as she started walking, keeping Winifred’s crestfallen face. “Goodbye, Winifred.”

And with that, she gripped Gilbert’s coat to make him walking quickly behind her. Anne felt her entire body let out a relieved sigh when she realized what she’d done. Everything she said managed to make Winifred’s face fall more and more, and she nearly pumped her fists in the air when she realized she finally managed to get under her skin.

“I can’t believe I did that,” Anne breathed out, staring straight at her. “Oh my god, that was either the bravest thing I’ve ever done or the stupidest.” A lack of response made Anne frown and glanced up. “Gil?”

Gil’s face was shocked. His mouth was slightly agape, but his hazel eyes were sparkling. Anne stopped them and his gaze snapped down to hers, his mouth curling into a smile.

“Are you- are you okay?” Anne asked, suddenly nervous. “That didn’t freak you out and make you want to break up with me, did it?”

Gilbert immediately shook his head and took her face in his big hands to lean in and kiss her thoroughly. Anne let out a small, content moan before he let go, resting their foreheads on each other’s.

“Did you mean it?” He asked breathlessly, hopefully.

“Every word,” Anne replied. She was suddenly confused when his face brightened up. “Are you really that happy I stood up to her?” She teased.

Gilbert smiled, “Extremely. But...Anne, did you mean it? When you said you loved me?”

Anne felt her body tense up, and suddenly her mind reeled through everything she had said not five minutes ago. And there it was, a subtle yet definitiveproclamation of love. It was so easy to say, she nearly felt herself blush.

But they hardly met just a couple months ago, and they’ve only been officially together for a handful of weeks. It wasn’t possible, but then why would she say it?

Was she 100% sure she was in love? You’re supposed to have a happy, easy time with the person you love. She was certainly happy with him, but it’s not always easy. But isn’t that what they were doing- being young, in love, and figuring out everything? It didn’t matter how many times Anne tried to discredit it, the evidence was there. 

She did indeed love him.

Anne stuttered, “I- fuck, yeah?” She said shyly, “Shit, did I just make things weird between us?”

Gilbert frantically shook his head. He took her by the back of her head to smother their lips together. Anne responded by wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him down and he wrapped his around her body, bending at an uncomfortable angle to keep their mouths mangled together.

They pulled back to catch their breaths, big grins erupting on their faces.

“So, I didn’t scare you off?” She asked shyly.

“Fuck no,” he replied. “I love you too, and don’t say anything like ‘how can you love me’ or whatever bullshit, okay? Because I can assure you, I have nearly a hundred reasons that I do.”

Anne glanced up at him and knew by his hazel specks he was telling the truth. Even after everything they’d gone through, he really did love her. 

“But-“

“No ‘but’, okay? I don’t want you to think anything right now except that we’re foolishly in love.”

Anne grinned uncontrollably and leaned in to kiss him soundly. “Is it bad that I’m kind of mad this is how I told you? It should’ve been much more romantic.”

Gilbert chuckled against her mouth, “I think this was perfect.”

She couldn’t stop the curl in her stomach telling her she  was  upset this is how he found out. Not to mention how she found out, too. She groaned and pulled back just enough to look up into his face.

“I want to redo it,” she stated.

Gilbert quirked an eyebrow at her, “Really?”

“Yes. For as long as I lived I told myself if I would ever tell someone I love them, I’d make it romantic and special. I can’t do such an injustice on myself, it’s not fair.”

Gilbert bit his bottom lip before bursting out into a fit of laughter. His grip loosened around her body as she glared at him, rolling her eyes. He covered his mouth with the back of his hand as he caught her eye, smiling to himself.

“I know it’s absurd, but I want to do it,” she said stubbornly.

Gilbert smiled softly at her before removing his hand. “I know, and it’s not absurd. It’s just totally something you would do and it makes you all the more adorable and me all the more in love with you.” He bent down to kiss her nose and she flushed. “Does that mean I have to pretend you don’t love me?”

Anne pondered for a moment before shrugging, “Well, it would add more suspense to my declaration of love. But, it feels entirely unnecessary. So I say do what you want.”

He smiled above her head, “Good, because I want to remember this for as long as I live. I love you.”

Anne smiled into his chest, “I love you too.”

They stood like that for a while until a cold gust of wind hit them and they shivered.

“Fuck, let’s get inside,” Gilbert’s jaw clenched as he covered her body with his to go to her apartment.

“Remind me to wear seven layers tomorrow,” Anne muttered and he chuckled before they remained in content silence. Until Gilbert spoke up.

“So, are you going to explain to me how she could’ve possibly gotten suspended?” He asked, his tone not mad, just curious.

Anne groaned and dug her head into his side, “Later, I’m so tired.”

He chuckled and kissed the top of her head, “Okay.”

She tucked herself into his embrace, basking in him as the phrase hit her:  _I see happiness and love in your future._

Anne smiled to herself, finally knowing it’s true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I’m rushing things, no I have no regrets. But regardless, I hope you guys enjoy this! A kudos and a comment would be appreciated after the devastation in me when my laptop was hardly working and I could hardly type lol.

**Author's Note:**

> This is similar to my ongoing story “Lover” as it basically details Anne’s bad reputation in Queens University now (all because of Gilbert Blythe here) through lines from Taylor Swift’s “Reputation” album.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!
> 
> P.S. please leave a comment and kudos! It really encourages me tysm


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